Wolfkin's Recyle Pile of Assorted Stuff

* * *

Prologue

Smoke curled lazily up from the pewter bowl on the makeshift altar, only to be partially dissipated by a slim, feminine hand adding bits of herbs to the small pile already smoldering in the metal container. Soft chanting could be heard as other things were prepared and added to the bowl, increasing the smoke momentarily, or changing its color. The room around the "alter" was illuminated only by the light of a dozen carefully placed candles in a way that might have been called romantic, were it not for the feeling of power being raised and the scent of burning plant matter.

The chants built in volume and power, the language they were spoken in long dead, until a bright flash appeared, causing the woman performing the ceremony to hastily close her eyes and look away.

"Who dares to summon Sirithis in this manner?" A deep, yet still feminine voice intoned angrily. "The last mortal that so dared I didn't allow to die for a week for their effrontery. Speak and know a quick answer with grant you a swift death." The speaker was female and appeared human until you saw her face. What appeared to be reddish scarring covered the "woman's" face and throat, while her eyes burned an inhuman blood red. A silver pendant set with a gem the size of a large man's thumbnail hung around her neck, perched just above her cleavage. It pulsed red with a malevolent power.

The woman on the other side of the altar straighten and opened her eyes, leveling her eyes on the demon woman so casually threatening her. She knew that Sirithis was more than capable of carrying out her promise of a pain filled death, but she also know that the demon wouldn't kill her until she knew the reason she'd been summoned.

The young woman was average height with grey eyes and light brownish-blonde hair. What some might call dishwater blonde and would easily be considered pretty, maybe even beautiful if she took care with her appearance. None of that mattered to her right now. All that did was striking a bargain with the demon she'd spent several hours summoning.

She smirked, a little sarcastically. "So, a roundabout answer will get me weeks of torment?" She laughed inwardly at the demon's expression, though outwardly, she carefully schooled her own to a respectful sorrow, giving the scowling demon a little half bow of her head. "Forgive me, great Sirithis. Sometimes my sense of humor escapes before I can contain it."

"You should repair that tendency, human, before it gets you killed. Slowly. Now, answer my question; Why have you summoned me?"

"My name is . . ."

"I know who you are Catherine Amanda Madison. I also know you prefer Amy, for some reason. And, before you try to 'enlighten' me, I know that you are a relatively minor sorceress and that the only things you can claim of any significance are turning yourself into a rat for three years and starting Willow Rosenberg down the path of true darkness." She sighed in frustration, a growling sound that echoed slightly in the small room. "What do you want?"

Amy's cheeks flamed angrily at the description of her as a "minor sorceress", but the growl Sirithis gave at the end of her dissertation caused her to swallow the implied insult. "The reason I summoned you is because I want Willow to suffer. It's just not fair the way everyone just forgives her and loves her. She tried to end the world, for God's sake, and all I've ever done is a few little questionable castings, just having a little fun and no one will even talk to me! I mean, I've been a witch way longer than her, so I should be so much more powerful than her and it's just not fair! I was casting spells before she even picked up her first spellbook!" She stopped and regained her composure. "So, that's why you're here. I want to get even with Willow."

Sirithis just stared at the impudent mortal in astonishment. This was it? This was why this idiot had brought her here? To exact some kind of questionable vengeance on Willow Rosenberg, the only witch to ever turn D'Hoffryn down, simply because she was a more powerful witch and a better person? And did the term witch even apply to her any more anyway?

The demon shook her head. None of that mattered anyway, simply because she wasn't powerful enough to do anything to Willow that the woman couldn't repair quickly. It would take D'Hoffryn himself to make any lasting changes and it was entirely possible even he wasn't powerful enough! Raising the Slayer army had allowed Willow to tap into a power source that damned few could ever touch, let alone control, so, appropriately, there were damned few beings that could challenge her. The last person Sirithis knew of personally that approached her power level was Merlin and he was never defeated by anyone.

Returning her attention to the mortal in front of her, Sirithis noticed with some amusement that she seemed to be getting annoyed be her silence. "What, specifically, are you asking me to do? Or really, what exactly is your wish? And before you say it, know that my options are limited. Willow Rosenberg is one of the most powerful beings on this plane right now and very few demons can challenge her and live."

Amy started to reply hotly, then paused and actually thought about what was said. With an internal growl, she had to admit the demon was right about Willow being insanely powerful now. If this wasn't done correctly, she knew her rival could easily find out who had cursed her and, while she wasn't really worried about Willow killing her, she wasn't so sure about that Slayer bitch she was living with. Besides, the last thing Amy wanted was to spend a few more years as a rat. Suddenly, she smiled and refocused on Sirithis.

"What I wish is this; Since Willow's power is so great, I wish for a Willow that is reduced in power enough so that I'm at least three times more powerful as she is."

Sirithis was sure her eyes left their sockets. It felt like they had. She really expected them to be rolling on the floor right now, bumping into her feet, getting dirty, looking up at the stupid look she was sure was on her face.

Was this mortal insane? Hadn't she just finished telling her that she wasn't anywhere near powerful enough to really do anything to the redheaded pseudo-goddess? On the other hand, the rules were clear. A wish had been spoken, so she was bound to grant it. The vengeance demon wracked her mind for a way to do so that wouldn't end with Rosenberg's pet Slayer killing her, assuming Rosenberg didn't do it herself.

She thought furiously, going over everything Madison had said, looking for a loophole she could exploit, thereby granting the wish while keeping her life. Inspiration struck and she smiled.

Amy paled a little at the demon's smile and opened her mouth to protest, to ask what she was going to do, to say never mind . . .

"Wish granted."

The world went white.

* * *

Chapter 1

[Nothing interesting ever happens on this shift.] James Cambell thought as the cargo door on the 727 rolled open. Ducking inside, he gave a cursory glance around, experience allowing him to gauge what needed to be unloaded first and in what order. He was startled out of his examination by a noise toward the front of the cargo area and instantly, the young man brought his flashlight up, trying to locate the source of the sound.

"What the hell . . .?" Light still playing across cargo containers and piled luggage, James started to feel a little creeped out. Images from all the horror movies he'd ever seen flashed through his mind, exacerbating his feelings of unease. "You're not supposed to be in here!" He flashed the light around a little more, then saw a shadow move. "Come on out." He looked that way a little more intently, then grunted as his head exploded in pain. Before he had time to regain his bearings and defend himself, a sharp blow crashed into his stomach, then another hammered his skull and he knew nothing more.

* * *

The dream was always the same. The intimidating landscape filled with oversized objects. The floor right in front of her. The primal fear of, well, basically everything. The real fear of this was all her life would ever be, that the memories of her old life being returned to her were all lies. The obnoxious buzzing . . . The what?

Amy clawed her way toward consciousness, the tatters of her dream/nightmare slipping away once more as the realization of an alarm clock going off near her finally fought its way through. Throwing out a hand, she fumbled blindly for a moment until she located the clock, then groped again as the unfamiliar controls temporarily baffled her. Finally, the annoying noise went away and the strawberry blonde woman breathed a sigh of relief, snuggling back into her pillow, Morpheus already tugging her away once more.

*Bam* *Bam* *Bam* "Are you awake yet, honey? Better hurry or you'll be late!"

Instantly, Amy's eyes popped open and the half formed growl transformed into a whimper. It couldn't be! It simply couldn't be! Trying desperately to suppress her panic, the young woman sat up in bed and looked around the room she was in. Far from helping her to calm down, she immediately recognized her old bedroom in her house in Sunnydale. [This can't . . . There's no way . . . Where . . .?] her mind gibbered, her eyes swiveling and locking on the door as another, lighter knock sounded and it opened partially.

"Amy? Sweetheart?" Thomas Madison's honest face looked around the door at his only child. He felt a stab of worry at the lost expression on her pretty features, but quickly assumed he'd woken her from a nightmare. Smiling, he repeated. "Hey, kiddo, you better get a move on, hadn't you? I know I said I'd drop you off this morning, but we're gonna need to leave soon, okay?"

Amy nodded absently, unable to verbalize yet. She unconsciously returned her dad's smile as he withdrew from the room, softly closing the door behind him. Looking slowly around, Amy realized she was really in her old bedroom and that had really been her father. A father she hadn't seen since before she had turned herself into a rat so many years earlier. She'd tried, oh so many times, to contact him, to tell him she was back, that she was okay, even just that she was alive, but she was never able to go through with it. How did she explain where she'd been? Why she hadn't contacted him before?

So she'd convinced herself that she was grown and that, since he'd apparently done so well without her around, she wouldn't bug him, like some baby who'd skinned her knee or something. Now, to see him, his expression of casual affection, tempered slightly with worry, it slammed home just how much she'd missed her daddy.

Amy smiled at that thought. Here she was, almost twenty three years old and she still thought of him as daddy. She wondered if she always . . . Her thoughts slithered to a halt as she really looked at her surroundings. Jumping out of bed, she moved swiftly around the room, touching items, examining books. This was impossible! This looked like her room, but from when she was a junior in high school! Even the textbooks were the ones she remembered from then!

Feeling her stomach sinking, the terrified witch looked around, then cast a simple spell, trying to levitate her clothes to her. Sluggishly, they rose and drifted toward her, dipping toward the floor several times in the few feet until they were close enough to grab. Wearily, she sat on the bed as her legs gave out. [It shouldn't be that hard to cast that!] Her thoughts were jumbled, scared. [It hasn't been that hard for me to levitate stuff since . . . high school.] Amy felt the blood drain from her face.

Shaking her head, she stood and moved to the closet, opening the door and looking at herself in the full length mirror there. Staring in shock, she saw, not the familiar young, but clearly adult form she was used to, but a girl who was in her mid to late teens. Her hair was a little longer now and, bed hair aside, styled differently. Somehow, she was in the past! Her hand rose toward her mouth and she froze, staring at the appendage. The scar was gone. That unnerved her more than anything, because she remembered discovering that scar after Willow broke the spell and she was returned to human form. She'd cut her front paw on a sharp spike in her old cage and she'd been dismayed to find out it was still on her hand, but quickly came to accept it, even cherish it in a strange way. Now, it was like it had never happened.

Suddenly, she let out a little giggle and a tentative smile broke out. If she was in the past, then it had never happened! She was never a rat, because that hadn't happened yet, and now, never would. With a slightly giddy smile, Amy flopped back on her bed, staring sightlessly at the ceiling as she thought about just how many crappy things in her life she could now avoid, all because she was given a chance to relive her life. She could even study the magics harder. Become twice the witch Willow was and finally be stronger than the redhead, maybe even . . .

That's when it hit her, what had happened, how she'd gotten where she was. Sirithis! Sitting bolt upright, her mind began to work furiously as pieces began to fall into place. The vengeance demon and the wish she'd made was the only explanation that made sense for her to suddenly wake up six years or more in the past. She could feel herself getting angry, because this was most assuredly not what she'd asked for! Sitting up, she glanced to where she used to hide her magic supplies (and right now, still did), mentally going over what she'd need to summon the demon again so she could fix this. She stood to see what was on hand again when a knock interrupted her.

"Amy? You about ready, honey?"

The fledgling witch stopped in her tracks, looking at the door, her mind suddenly stuck in neutral as what she had been doing collided with the instinctive desire to listen to her father. "Um . . . Almost, Dad. Ten more minutes?"

Mr Madison's voice drifted through the closed door. "Well, that'll be cutting things close, but okay. Hurry it along if you can, okay, sweetheart?"

Even though no one could see it, Amy nodded as she replied, "Okay, Dad. I'll be as fast as I can." She listened to his footsteps leading away again and glanced once more at where she stored her magic supplies. [It'll wait until tonight. One day back in high school won't kill me. I'll do the school thing, then come home and summon Sirithis and try to convince her to fix this.] Plan firmly in mind, Amy gathered the clothes she wanted to wear that day and headed for the bathroom.

* * *

Amy looked across her father as he stopped his suv in front of Sunnydale High School, popping her seat belt loose as soon as the vehicle stopped moving. "Thanks for the ride, Dad." She smiled at the man, an expression he returned warmly.

"You're welcome, honey. I was happy to do it." He turned a little and looked at the banner stretched over the school's front doors. "Have you decided what you're interested in?"

Amy followed his eyes and felt her own widen a little. Interesting. Sirithis sent her back to the first day of the Career Fair the school sponsored. Thinking back, she tried to remember what she'd had to attend, then shuddered as it came back to her. [Oh yeah. Landscaping and Child Care. Yuck!] "They assign us to different things, but I'm gonna try for something like cooking or maybe even vet or something."

Thomas smiled, pleased at his daughter's ambition. After the way Catherine had always been so down on the girl, he was afraid his missing wife had broken her spirit, but it looked like that wasn't true. He thanked God and asked Him to please make sure Catherine stayed wherever the hell she was and to never come back to Sunnydale. "Sounds great, Amy. You promise you'll give me all the details tonight, right?"

Amy smiled. "I promise." She leaned across and hugged her father tightly, missing the surprised expression on the man's face, but smiling bigger when she felt him returning the affection. "I love you, Daddy."

His eyes widened a little. She hadn't called him 'Daddy' in years. Part of him wanted to ask what was up, but at the last second, he decided to let her tell him if anything was wrong. Instead, he just returned her embrace and whispered, "I love you too, sweetheart." He let her draw away and smiled, nodding toward the school. "You better hurry or we'll both be late."

Amy smiled and opened her door. "Okay." She got out of the vehicle and closed the door, then turned back with a "Daddy?"

"Yeah, baby?"

Amy hesitated, then blushed a little. "Nothing. I'll see you tonight." She stepped away from the truck and waved a little. "Bye!"

Thomas gave his daughter a funny look, then smiled and put the truck in gear. "See you later." He pulled away, confident that Amy would eventually tell him what was wrong or whatever it was she'd obviously wanted to say. The fact that she'd called him 'Daddy' twice in just a few minutes after not using that word for a few years was odd, but it didn't strike any kind of ominous chords in him. Maybe this Career Fair thing was making her thing about life after high school and she suddenly wanted to feel like a little girl again for a moment. He smiled to himself as he pulled into his company's parking lot. That must be it. His mind at ease once more, Thomas Madison locked his vehicle and went in to work.

* * *

Amy had forgotten how much she enjoyed cooking. The strawberry blonde girl was happily fixing the rather simple meal the restaurant people who were there for Career Week had asked for and looking forward to hearing what they had to say about it. Their group had taken over the Home Ec classroom for the day and she and about fifteen other people, including, she saw with some amusement, Harmony Kendall, were all busily fixing some kind of food.

Of course, Harmony being in here was funny to her for the simple reason of she knew Harmony was turned at graduation, so what would a future vampire need with cooking skills? She suddenly frowned as she thought about what would happen if she couldn't convince Sirithis to take back her wish. She would be stuck here, reliving the last year and a half of high school. Then again, last time, she'd been a rat for the biggest part of senior year, so at least this time, she'd get to go to her prom and actually graduate. Well, if she managed to let Buffy know about the mayor without making the Slayer suspicious about how she knew so much about the dark sorcerer than ran their town.

Assuming she did manage to do that, how much should she change? Becoming friends with Willow, really good friends so she could direct the redhead's magical training was a priority, but how many other things should she change? Like Harmony, for instance. True, she hated the blonde, just like every other girl in the school who wasn't a 'Cordette' as she'd heard Xander call them, but could she really condemn someone to being a vampire just because she didn't like them? She wasn't sure.

Mindlessly arranging her food on a plate for the 'judges', she thought back and tried to remember everyone who died that she might be able to prevent. Maybe, anyway. This was Sunnydale, so some deaths were gonna happen simply as a natural occurrence of living on a Hellmouth. The big ones, though . . . She remembered during her and Willow's long talks about what she missed and what she remembered from before being a rat Willow had given her a long list of their classmates that had died when the mayor had Ascended. Those deaths, Harmony, Larry, even Snyder didn't have to happen. How could she do nothing and allow it?

"And here have Ms . . . Madison." A voice in front of her broke Amy from her deep thoughts with a start and she looked at the man in front of her. Blushing a little, she offered him a selection of utensils and tried not to fidget.

Terry O'Neal, owner of Sunnydale's premiere restaurant (at least, in his eyes), looked at the girl fidgeting in front of him and mentally cocked an eyebrow. For some reason, she seemed to be nervous, yet also like she was simply going through the motions of today. With a miniscule shrug, he dismissed it from his mind as he took the fork Amy offered him. Inwardly, he sighed. Amy's plate was the fifth he'd tried so far and, so far, none of the children that prepared the food would ever starve, but he wouldn't have hired any of them to peel potatoes.

With an almost silent sigh of resignation, O'Neal tasted the first part of what was on the plate. His eyebrows shot up as soon as it hit his taste buds. He quickly chewed and swallowed, tasting each of the other dishes in turn before taking a sip of water. This was a pleasant surprise. True, the strawberry blonde in front of him was no real competition for his head chef, Helmut, but if she was able to cook like this untrained . . . He smiled at Amy, handing her the plate and fork back. "Quite tasty, Ms Madison. If you would be so kind, would you remain for a few moments after the others leave? I would consider it a favor." When Amy smiled back nervously and nodded, he gave her a little bow and another small smile, then moved to the next person.

Amy watched him, stunned into immobility for several minutes. She finally snapped out of it when she saw him glance at what Calvin Duffy had fixed and shudder. Ruthlessly, she stomped on her urge to giggle and turned back to start cleaning up her work area. While she worked, she wondered what he wanted to talk to her about. She was fairly certain Mr O'Neal had liked her food, after all, he hadn't asked anyone else to stay yet, but surely he wasn't going to offer her a job or something. Amy glanced back at the man now standing before Harmony and wondered, [Is he?]

Forty minutes later, Amy walked out of the Home Ec room, somewhat in a daze, still thinking about what O'Neal had spoken to her about. [He wants to sponsor and help pay for me to go to school! I . . . I can't believe it!] She shook her head a little, absently seeing if that reset the world to the one she knew best. Where she was just Amy Madison, former black magic junkie, former rat and just someone who life had crapped on. Could things have been this way the first time, if she'd had the courage to go to the restaurateurs demos all those years ago?

Suddenly, she giggled as she thought about Harmony's face when O'Neal had answered her request to teach her to cook by saying all she'd ever need to know was taught in the frozen foods section of her local market. The airheaded blonde had gotten indignant, threatening to get her parents to stop coming to his restaurant. She'd been stunned and embarrassed when O'Neal had laughed and replied that that was perfectly fine with him. The Kendalls treated his staff like slaves when they came in, constantly complained about the quality of the food and were lousy tippers. Therefore, he informed her with a withering smile, it would be no real loss if they were to never come near his restaurant again.

Harmony had stared at him, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish for nearly a full minute before she squealed in anger and stormed from the room. O'Neal had treated the encounter like it hadn't happened, finishing what he'd been saying, then dismissing the class. Once everyone else was gone, he'd smiled and explained what he wanted, that he thought she should follow this as a career and that he'd help all he could. In return for which, she would come to work for him for at least a year. Walking away from the the classroom, she stopped and looked back, then smiled broadly and giggled happily.

Facing forward again, she headed for the lounge area, stopping when she saw two older men she didn't know approach Willow, then escort her towards a curtained off area. Her smile died as her original desires flashed through her mind. Though she tried, Amy couldn't remember what happened with Willow during Career Fair the first time, so she was worried that maybe something would interfere with her plans. She started easing that way, the armed guard at the door making her cautious. Finally, she was in a position to hear what was happening without looking too much like that was what she was doing.

". . . held up over SeaTac, but he should be here any minute."

"But, I didn't even get my test back." Amy almost smiled at that. As long as she'd known Willow, the redhead had always loved school and worried herself silly over it.

"The test was irrelevant. We've been watching you for some time now." [They've been watching Willow? And who are 'they'?]

"And that's a good thing?"

"I would say so, yes. We're extremely selective. In fact, only one other student from Sunnydale met our criteria. Please, make yourself comfortable." [Who the hell are these guys?]

Amy looked the curtain over, trying to find a place where she could look through, almost jumping when the two men came back out. Quickly, she opened her bag and acted like she was digging for change for the soda machine. As they stepped away, she heard a soft, almost familiar voice ask, "Canape?" Once again, she tried to find a way to looked into the closed off area, but this time, there was a subtle throat clearing. She looked guiltily at the guard. Quickly, she smiled apologetically and retreated to a nearby chair to wait until Willow and whoever it was came out.

While she waited, she went over her options and tried to finalize her plans. She decided her best bet would be to somehow convince Willow she wanted to help with the gang's fight against the Hellmouth and everything. Willow would, in turn, convince Buffy that she was serious and that would give her an in. Oh! Thinking back now, Amy remembered that, at that time, the Scoobies whole magic support was Giles and she was better than him now, so maybe that was the way to go. Plus, if she admitted it, maybe she could avoid that whole 'love spell' fiasco with Xander in a few months.

There was also Ms Calendar to consider. Amy knew the computer teacher had a lot more power than she let on and concealing herself from the older woman had been hard. If she was one of the 'Scoobies', she wouldn't have to hide it. Well, she would need to be careful and not let Ms Calendar know just how much she knew and the how and why of it, but it would be okay to let her know that she was a witch.

Amy looked up as the two men from before came back with a third, better dressed man, all three of them going through the curtain. She started to get up and try to eavesdrop again, but the guard was now even more attentive, so she knew he wouldn't let her near enough to do any good. [Gods, I wanna know what's going on in there!], Amy thought unhappily. She worried about what was happening with Willow in there, though her memories said she was fine after today last time.

Suddenly, she frowned. Why was she feeling . . . Well, 'protective' seemed to the right word, as silly as that sounded, over Willow. That was crazy, wasn't it? After all, she was here because she wanted to get even with the redhead, so why was even a little worried about what was happening in there? A thought occurred to her and she smiled inwardly. [That must be it,] she thought with great satisfaction. [I'm just worried they'll screw up my plans, that's all. I don't want anyone messing things up before I can get things set up the way I want them. Once I can control what Willow does, I won't care what happens anymore.] Satisfied with her reasoning, Amy happily went back to her plotting.

* * *

Chapter 2

Faith looked around the swanky office for the tenth or twelfth time as Xander and Angel verbally sparred, her eyes once again falling on the antique sword collection behind the vampire's head. If she didn't give her old mentor anything else, she had to admit he had good taste in weapons. Smirking a little, she wondered how hard it would be to con him out of the katana. She'd been wanting one for a while, ever since Xander had given her a couple Usagi Yojimbo graphic novels, which, combined with her love of sharp pointy things, meant she very badly wanted one of the Japanese weapons. The one on the wall looked like a really good one, not one of the cheap pieces of shit they sold around where she lived.

Bringing her attention back to the two men, she quickly hid a grin at Angel's expression. Xander had never been one of his favorite people, more tolerated for Buffy's sake, and now hers, than anything else. Anyone who'd ever met Xander knew his opinions on vampires, opinions that extended to Angel as well, with a few other things tossed on to mix in. Yet, underneath it all, she could sense that both men respected each other and she knew that neither would let the dislike of the other to interfere with working together, if the need arose.

For now, though, it looked like joint missions of the new Watcher's Council and "Team Angel" might be a thing of the past. At least, that was Giles' feelings when he'd dispatched Faith to talk to the ensouled vampire. And where Faith went, her Watcher and Xander followed. Which is what led to the two of them sitting in Angel's office while her Watcher chatted with Wesley about the Council obtaining copies of certain volumes in Wolfram & Hart's massive occult library.

When they'd first gotten word that Angel was the new head of Wolfram & Hart, Giles had made the decision that Angel had just climbed in bed with the enemy, so, unless the fate of the world depended on it, Angel and his associates were to be left strictly alone. It hadn't been a popular decision. Faith, Buffy and Willow had argued with the Council's new leader, but none had swayed him. Nor had assurances from both Willow and Althenea that Angel still had his soul. Giles maintained that even if Angel wasn't evil again right then, the influence of Wolfram & Hart itself would inevitably corrupt the vampire.

Now, over a year later, tentative overtures were being made. With Willow's help, Faith had convinced Giles to let her go to talk to Angel so she could suss out whether the place was getting to him. She'd used the information Willow had provided to show that the evil things and deeds the law firm had been mixed up in before Angel had taken over were nearly nonexistent. Wolfram & Hart had even started to show a profit again after Angel had axed so many shady programs and dealings. Finally, they'd convinced her former Watcher to let them try and here they were.

A subtle change in the room's air pressure returned the former rogue from her inner musings in time to hear the door behind her close. Letting her head drop backwards, she gave her approaching Watcher an upside down smile, which the slender young brunette returned. "Find anything we could use, babe?"

The woman laughed as she walked up beside the chair the Slayer was sprawled in before spinning slightly to plop into the older woman's lap, Faith giving a theatric "Oof!" sound as she caught her. She gave the Slayer an admonishing look, then smiled again. "Well, since Wesley is a 'retired'," she made quotes marks in the air, "Watcher, he really knew just which books to show me to make our report to Giles look favorable." She kissed Faith quickly before smiling again. "So, yeah, I guess I found a few things we could use."

Faith smiled herself and nodded decisively. "Cool. Now, if Angel and Xander'll stopped pissin' in the corners long enough to talk things out, maybe we'll get somewhere."

Angel broke off what he was saying to the other man in the room and gave her a sour look, ignoring the Slayer's snort of amusement. His eyes cut to the young woman currently perched in Faith's lap and the vampire smiled a little. "How are you doing, Dawn? Did Wesley and Fred show you everything you wanted to see?"

Dawn Summers smiled at Angel, not even twitching from her current seat. "Can't complain too much, Angel. I mean, a week on a beach somewhere would be nice, but other than that, it's all good." She looked at Xander when he barked a little laugh at her qualifier, then sucked in a quick breath as Faith nuzzled her throat and began to nibble. With a little effort, she forced herself to ignore what her lover was doing and smiled at the men. "Something funny, Xand? Does that noise mean you wouldn't like a week of Faith and me in really skimpy bikinis during the day and dancing all night? I mean, if the thought of that bothers you, I'm sure we can find someone else to help with the suntan lotion and to dance with and stuff."

Xander smiled at his fellow Watcher but refused to rise to the bait. He felt a jolt of arousal course through him, but, like Dawn, he ignored it. Mostly due to practice, since Faith did this a lot. "Sure, that's fine with me, as long as I can head over to Vegas and catch a few shows, maybe visit a few clubs of my own." He glanced toward the somewhat confused looking vampire and his smile turned gleeful. He so loved springing this on people. "That seems fair, right, Deadboy?"

Before Angel could answer, Faith's head jerked up and away from Dawn's throat, her face scrunched up in displeasure. "You don't get to go to strip clubs unless we're with you. You know the rules, X-man."

Dawn laughed lightly and turned the Slayer's face toward her. "Hey, teasing each other is in the rules, too, remember Tough Girl?" she gently chided her lover. Glancing over at Xander, she smirked. "Besides, why worry? Not like he has that great a taste in women, right?"

Faith opened her mouth to . . . she didn't know whether it was to agree or protest when an indignant "Hey!" sounded through the office. Both women looked toward an angry appearing Xander.

"I'll have you know I have excellent taste in women!" he primly informed Dawn before leering at them both. "I mean, look who I'm with now. Besides, it's way more fun to watch Faith flirt with the dancers and waitresses than to do it myself, so no worries about me going alone, Faith."

The Slayer smirked and nodded her head. "Nice save, stud. Just for that, I'll let you play with the kid here first tonight, how's that?"

"Hey!" Dawn yelled indignantly. "What am I, some kinda damned sex toy or something? Don't I get a say in this?"

Faith laughed and shook her head. "Nope. Besides, you squeak like a toy whenever I do this;" The brunette lunged forward and let her lips slip around one of the teen's earlobes. She lightly bit down as one hand came up and pinched Dawn's right nipple.

Dawn inhaled sharply and squeaked loudly as the twin sensations sent a strong ripple of desire through her. As Faith continued to nibble and her hand started to caress and knead, she moaned and leaned into her girlfriend's touch.

"What the hell's going on?"

Faith pulled away from her 'snack' and smirked at Angel's question. "What's it look like, Fang? I'm makin' out with my girlfriend." She flashed him a look of pure deviltry, then resumed her 'attack' on Dawn, much to the younger girl's delight.

Faith felt a presence behind her and looked up as Xander said, in a feigned exasperated tone, "I thought you said I got her first, yet here you are, line jumping again. What am I gonna do with you?"

"Help me turn her into a quivering puddle, then fuck me till I can't walk straight?" Faith offered helpfully. When Xander merely cocked an eyebrow, the dark haired beauty just sighed and shook her head. "Keep your pantyhose on, will ya? I'm just warmin' her up for ya, big guy, that's all."

"Which I might totally appreciate, IF we were anywhere but Deadboy's office. Since that's where we are, what say we slow this down until we get back the hotel, 'k?" His smile turned to an almost evil smirk and he waggled his eyebrows. "Then we can turn Dawnie into a quivering puddle and we can screw around 'till neither of us can walk. Deal?"

Faith laughed throatily before giving the blushing teen in her lap one more, deep kiss. "Sounds like a plan to me, X." Grabbing the front of his shirt, she pulled the former carpenter down for an equally deep kiss. "Sorry, Fang. Floor show's over for now." She grinned at her confused mentor, ruthlessly suppressing the urge to laugh at him.

For his part, Angel furiously went over what he'd just witnessed in his mind, trying to figure out what it all meant. Faith had said that Dawn was her girlfriend, which was kinda obvious from the way she and the younger woman were making out. It was their comments to Xander and his replies that were tripping the ensouled vampire up, not to mention that kiss Faith just gave him. Finally, after chasing the thoughts for several minutes, he looked at Faith and asked, "Okay, just what the hell is going on? You didn't say anything about a girlfriend the last time we talked, you know. And what the hell does Xander have to do with it?"

The once rogue allowed herself a sardonic smile just as Xander broke out in loud chortles and Dawn buried her face into her Slayer's chest and shook with quiet laughter. Faith smacked her boyfriend's stomach lightly, for a Slayer, and gave him a stern look while curling her other arm around Dawn. "It's like this, Angel. Xan and I started talking right after Sunnyhell went bye-bye, mostly me tryin' to be a friend and someone he could yell and rant at or let it out about Anya buying it in the last battle. Squeaks here and me started hanging out about the same time." She grinned but said nothing about the indignant noise Dawn made about her new nickname. "As soon as we got clear of the fight with the First, B started treatin' her like she always had, like she was 5 or somethin'."

Xander reached out and started running his fingers through Dawn's hair, the girl starting to almost purr at his touch. "God knows I love Buffy like a sister, but she can be really blind when it comes to Dawn." He flashed a grin at Faith, then looked back at Angel. "I mean, Squeaks here had my back in the last battle in SunnyD, even saved my ass when I got tackled by a buncha bringers, so Buff's attitude was starting to grate on me and I mentioned that to Faith one night on a training patrol. She suggested we bring Dawnie along on our patrols. It took a lot of arguing, but Buffy finally gave in when she saw that all of us except her thought Dawn should be allowed to go."

Angel nodded, but still looked a little lost. "Okay, I can understand all that. I can even understand how she became a Watcher. What I don't get is why you are all acting like your together. Who's dating who? I mean, it's kind of obvious from the way Faith was attacking Dawn's throat like a newly risen vampire, they have something going, but where do you fit into it, Xander?"

Dawn smiled at the vampire, trying hard not to laugh at the half confused, half angry look on his face. Taking a deep breath and telling her hormones a firm 'later', she smiled at Angel. "It's pretty simple, Angel. I had a crush on Xander for ages, basically ever since I stopped thinking boys were disgusting and I had a seriously confusing crush on Faith when she was in Sunnydale the first time. In fact, I was crushing on them both back them and it really confused the hell out of me. Which one did I like more and didn't it mean I was weird or sick if I liked Faith like I liked Xander?" She smiled apologetically at both of her lovers. "Anyway, before I could come up with any answers, Faith switched sides and I tried to stop liking her, since she was hurting Buffy and everyone. Then she hurt mom and me when she woke up from her coma and Xander was dating Anya and I was starting to notice that not every guy in my school was a complete waste."

She stopped and looked at Faith, who was currently looking away, her expression one of remorse. Dawn stopped her narrative for a second to gently turn the Slayer's face back toward her, though Faith kept her eyes downcast. "Hey, you know I know you were a different person then and I forgave you for all that a long time ago. So did Mom, so no more feeling bad, okay?" She ducked her head until she could see Faith's dark eyes. "Okay?"

Faith gave the younger woman a little smile and a microscopic nod, but the Key saw and smiled, hugging the Dark Slayer tightly to her, whispering "I love you." in her ear. That caused Faith to hold the teen tighter.

Xander watched his girlfriends as they hugged and whispered to each other and took up Dawn's narrative. "So anyway, like Faith said earlier, she and I started hanging out, nothing more, after we closed the old Hellmouth. She helped me come to terms with Anya's death and got me to open up again to my friends and family while she also helped get Buffy to ease up on Dawn. Anyway, the three of us started to take smallish groups of baby Slayers on training patrols. Nothin' big, just three to five girls, teachin' them teamwork and making sure they stayed alive long enough to learn how to be a Slayer. When they'd been out with us a few times, we'd trade off with Buffy. She taught them self-reliance as opposed to our lessons on teamwork."

Seeing that Angel was losing his patience on his long winded explanation, Xander smirked and fought down the impulse to go into greater detail on the differences between his and Buffy's methods of teaching Slayers. Shaking his head a little and taking his sense of humor firmly in hand, he continued his narration. "Anyway, to make a long story longer, that whole thing about slaying making a Slayer horny and hungry? Dead on, at least for a pretty high percentage of'em. After a really busy night, Faith and I dropped the Slay-babies off at their rooms and Dawnie headed off to her own bed and I walked Faith back to her room, trying to ignore that she was nearly buzzing from the night's Slaying. She'd never given me any sign up to that point that she wanted to get together as anything other than friends, so I was trying to not think about it.

"Anyway, we get to her bedroom door and she surprises the hell outta me by turning to me and asking if I'll stay with her for the night. I stalled and asked what exactly did she want from me and she spelled it out, that she was going nuts from the feelings the Slaying stirred up and would I please help her out tonight and we could talk about what it might mean in the morning." He smirked at Angel as he stroked his hands down across both Faith and Dawn's hair, his fingertips lightly scratching their scalps. "Now, I don't know about you, Deadboy, but when one of the sexiest, most beautiful women I've ever met asks me if I could please spend the rest of the night having wild, passionate sex with her, I smile and follow and do my best."

Both women tilted their heads back and looked at him, Faith with a loving expression and a faint blush at his compliments, but Dawn had a little scowl. After all, he hadn't said nice things about her, now had he? Xander smiled at his younger lover's glower and leaned down and kissed her lingeringly. "I said she was one of the sexiest, most beautiful. Any guesses on who I think the other one is?" He whispered in her ear, delighting in the blush that flashed across Dawn's cheeks just before she captured his lips in a steamy kiss.

Faith grinned and shook her head, her eyes slipping closed for a moment. Opening them again, she looked toward her one time mentor and took up what Xander had been saying. "So, anyway, me and Patch went at it till we both crashed and then talked when we woke up the next morning. I was tired of doing the one night thing, but I hadn't ever done the relationship thing either, so I asked if he'd be willing to just be friends who scratched each other's itches sometimes. He wasn't so sure, but agreed to try it."

"I was worried I'd fall for her and then she'd decide to move on and, after Anya, I wasn't sure I could've taken that. Faith, as I'm sure you know, knows how to get her way when she wants it, so I agreed and one of us stayed in the other's room almost every night after that." Xander smiled at Faith for a second, then returned his attention to Dawn and the teasing kisses he was leaving on her slender neck.

Angel scowled at the one-eyed man for a moment, the debate clear on his face whether to say anything as Xander continued to slowly make out with the squirming brunette on Faith's lap. His eyes flicked to the Slayer's face and his scowled deepened at the laughter he clearly saw there. "Okay, fine," he growled. "I understand how you two got together, but how does Dawn fit into it? Does Buffy know what you're doing? I can't believe she'd approve of it!"

Faith shrugged. "Dizzy's over eighteen, so what B thinks don't mean shit. For the record, she's not too happy, but there ain't a lot she can do, so she ignores it as best she can. Anyway, Dawn got in on the act a hair over four months back when we were celebratin' X-Man's birthday. We were all drinking beer and shit, even B. Hell, Willow and Kennedy were in that weekend and Red was lettin' Junior have a couple beers, so I figured, 'what the hell', y'know? She wasn't leavin' the house, so I gave Dawn a beer and kinda hung around her for a few minutes, just to make sure she was gonna be okay."

Faith paused and snorted her amusement and glanced at Dawn. "Must be a Summers chick thing cause Diz can't hold her liquor any better than Buffy can, so it got drunk out pretty damn quick." She ignored the glare that Dawn was trying to send her way, chuckling at both the memory and at her younger lover as Xander started to nibble on Dawn's ear and she couldn't quite suppress a moan. "Anyway, she drags me to a couch pretty soon and starts tellin' me all about this monster crush she had on Xand, how she thought it was gone, but what with hangin' out with the two of us on patrol and shit, now she wasn't so sure she was over him. Then she looks at me and tells me about how she useta crush on me too and that that made everything worse and more confusing. She finished off the beer she had and started passin' out on me, so I figured I'd get her up to bed and maybe B wouldn't wanna gut me for gettin' her sister drunk if I told her I watched out for her too. So there I was, half carrying her up the stairs, her mumblin' some shit about how she's never really been kissed and that the vampire didn't count and that confused the hell outta me, cause I thought it was B that liked to screw around with vamps. Anyway, I got her tucked in bed and went back to the party.

"A few days later we were all chillin' out around the pool and I was watchin' Dizzy chase Andrew around the pool till she finally pushed'im in. Not that I cared about that. I was lookin' at D cause she was lookin' hot in her bikini and I was thinkin' about what she said about being hot for me at one time," She stopped and laughed. "Well, that and anyone torturin' that little prick gets my attention. Anyway, X-Man brought me a cold one and I was thinkin' about Dawn and she'd said she liked him too and God knows, I got no problem with playin' with more than one person at a time, so I told him I thought we oughta get Diz to join us the next time tried to break a mattress." Faith ignored the growl coming from her boyfriend, but Dawn's little noises of pleasure were beginning to get to her. They were going to need to leave soon and head back for the hotel or Angel was going to get a real show, not just a little making out.

"He freaked at first, but I got'im to admit he knew about D's crush and that, yeah, she was lookin' damn fine these days and that he probably would be chasin' her if he didn't know her already, but . . ." The Slayer stopped at the phone on Angel's desk rang.

The vampire scowled at the thing and pressed the intercom button. "Harmony, I thought I said no interruptions unless the building was on fire. Since I don't heard alarms or smell smoke, why am I talking to you?"

Angel's underlying snarl of displeasure must have made it through the electronics of the telephone intact because Harmony's voice contained an unsure, quavering note. "Um, I know you did and I'm sorry, but, well, Willow's on the phone. She says she needs to talk to Xander or Dawn and it's like life and death important."

Xander's head snapped up from where he was teasing Dawn and, peripherally, he saw her and Faith both look toward the vampire as he did. The man cocked one eyebrow and nodded slightly toward the phone on Angel's desk, then straightened and walked forward as Angel nodded and told Harmony to put her through.

The tall brunet answered with, "Hey Will. What's going on? I was gonna call you in a couple hours from the hotel, so . . ." He stopped talking and his eye opened wide and he felt the blood drain from his face. "Ar-are you sure about that? Okay, okay! Yeah, I know you wouldn't make that kind of mistake . . . Yeah, we'll be on our way as soon as we swing by the hotel for our stuff . . . Yeah, as soon as we know anything . . . Yeah . . . Okay . . . Talk to you in a few hours . . . Huh? Tell Buffy she's fine and will stay that way. Yeah . . . Bye Will." Hanging up the phone, he glanced at the other male in the room and tried to smile, but failed. Distantly, he heard the door to Angel's office slam open. "Angel, it was fun, but we gotta cut this short. Willow asked us to check something up the coast immediately and we need to kick it to get there and get set up before dark."

Angel flicked a glance at Wesley and Fred as they rushed toward him, his face worried, hers pale and drawn. Before he could, Dawn asked, "What's up Xand? Why do you look so freaked?" She was showing her own uncertainty plainly and the hand that gripped Faith's was nearly white knuckled.

Xander swallowed roughly. "It's . . ." He coughed and cleared his throat. "It's the Hellmouth. It's back. So is Sunnydale," was all he said before charging toward the exit. Faith and Dawn looked at each other for a second, both deciding questions could wait. Jumping to their feet, they quickly followed their boyfriend, leaving Angel and his people behind without so much as a wave.

* * *

Amy stifled a yawn then turned to look at a nearby clock. She sighed as she realized Willow had been in that curtained off area for over an hour and, to be honest, she was really getting bored. Her stomach growled angrily and she grimaced and added hungry to her list of feelings at that moment. The witch looked at the "doorway" the redhead had gone through again, then back at the clock. Giving a growly sigh of frustration, Amy stood, deciding she might as well have lunch and find Willow afterward. Surely whatever company was talking to her would let her go eat, right?

Giving the closed off area one more dirty look, she headed off in the direction of the cafeteria, automatically dodging people. She remembered what high school was like, the fact that she was nearly as much of a social leper as Willow or Xander used to be (and still were, for the most part). That added to how much of a loner she'd become after Willow had turned away from her and killed Rack, so she didn't make eye contact with anyone, just tried to disappear.

When she got to the lunchroom, she gave the notice on the door a glance to see what was being served that day and felt a small knot of unease thread itself through her subconscious. There was something on the paper that didn't seem right. Then the feeling passed as quickly as it hit and she joined the line for food. Tray secured, she grabbed one of the small, corner table usually "reserved" for outcast freshmen that gave her a good view of most of the room.

She spotted Xander right away, sitting at another of the smaller table and looking around. Amy nibbled at her lunch as she watched the young man, mentally comparing the seventeen year old in front of her to the twenty three year old man she'd last seen. This Xander was, of course, a bit more slender, his chest not as wide, his arms not as developed from the construction work he loved. The older Xander also had more visible self-confidence than his younger counterpart and, after a moment, Amy understood why; the younger version wasn't yet comfortable with himself. He also, if Amy was remembering correctly, hadn't started dating Cordelia yet.

She was jarred out of her thoughts by movement near Xander's table as Buffy joined him and he slid some food and a drink across to the blonde girl. Again, Amy started comparing the older Buffy she'd last seen to the fresh faced girl across the room. The first thing that leapt out was the younger Slayer was no longer a poster child for eating disorders. She looked healthy, not underfed, tanned, toned and all together pretty damned good. That thought jarred Amy's thoughts again. Since when did she think another girl looked 'good'? She didn't like girls like that.

Shaking her head at the notion, she cleared her mind of those kinds of thoughts and started trying to think of a way to enter the group. Just asking seemed like a bad idea. She remembered that Cordelia, at this time, was a 'part-time' Scoobie, but that was because they'd had to rescue her a few times and she'd just not run away. Allowing herself to be vamp-bait in the hopes that Buffy would save her in time was a really dumb idea, so she rejected the idea.

A girl at a nearby table started packing her books away and Amy smiled. That was it! That was how she could do it. Willow's willingness to help anyone with the schoolwork was legendary, so all she had to do was ask the redhead to help her. As she recalled, her french and math grades were never that great anyway and it would make her dad happy to see better grades while letting her accomplish her true goal. She could offer, after a few sessions, to help Willow with learning witchcraft and, since she'd be teaching her, she could make sure Willow was always less powerful than herself. It was brilliant! Willow would even make the others let her into the Scoobies, since Giles was their only magic support right now.

Smiling happily to herself, Amy tore into her lunch, suddenly incredibly hungry, as she watched Buffy and Xander and waited for a flash of familiar red hair.

* * *

Chapter 3

Just as Amy was about to give up on her idea of talking to Willow at lunch, the redhead dashed in and almost collided with the table Buffy and Xander were at. Blushing the whole time, she sat down quickly and began to wolf down the sandwich, apple and soft drink her friends gave her, the other two talking to her the whole time. Willow answered with exaggerated gestures in between bites and Amy found herself wishing she was close enough to hear what they were talking about.

With a growling little sigh and a pout, the strawberry blonde girl sat back, her arms folded. She knew that, if her plan worked, she'd find out what was being said sooner or later, but she wanted to know now, just in case it would affect her overall plan. She was so intent on her perceived annoyance, she lost track of time and was actually surprised when the bell rang, announcing the end of the first lunch period. Quickly, Amy jumped to her feet and gather her bag and backpack, then her tray to be emptied as all around her, dozens of others did the same thing, including the group she been watching so intently.

Moving quickly, she got out the door before most of the others, then stopped, waiting for Willow and the Scoobies. Toward the end of the pack, her patience was rewarded and she pasted a smile on her face as she stepped up to intercept the redhead. "Hey, guys," she said with all the enthusiasm she could muster.

Buffy and Xander mumbled a quasi-friendly greeting, clearly distracted by something that Amy was interrupting, but Willow smiled and replied with equal fervor. "Hi, Amy! How've you been?"

"Oh, I'm doing good. My mom still hasn't come back, so that's all to the good, right? I mean, no more body swaps, so I'm glad of that, although, if you guys don't mind, can I talk to you for a minute, Willow? It'll be real quick, I promise."

Willow gave a little shrug and glanced at the other two people flanking them and said, "Sure. I'll catch up with you guys in class, okay?" Xander and Buffy agreed, though the former looked at the other girl speculatively for a second before moving off. Willow turned back to Amy and indicated they should continue to walk. "So, what's up?"

Amy made a little expression of contrition. "Uh . . . I was actually wondering if you were still doing the tutoring thing. Y'know, if you had the time and stuff. I-I could really use the help with a few classes, if you've got the time to take pity on a former friend."

Willow stopped walking and looked the slightly shorter girl dead in the eyes. "Okay, first of all, what's this 'former' friend stuff? I don't remember saying we weren't friends anymore and I'm pretty sure you didn't either, so we never stopped being friends, okay? As for helping you with your homework and stuff, sure, I can do that, no problem. I mean, I'm already helping Buffy and I've always had to help Xander, so I know I can work you in there somewhere. Oh! Do you have sixth period free? We could meet in one of the back corners of the library and talk about what you need help with. Would that be okay?"

Amy just looked at the babbling redhead and felt . . . something wander through her at Willow's statement that they'd never stopped being friends. She wasn't entirely sure, but it almost felt like . . . gratitude? Happiness? She'd forgotten for a moment that this Willow hadn't lived through all the bad things they'd done to each other. Giving herself a little shake, she started to speak, then stopped and cleared her throat and tried again. "Um, no, I have French sixth. How about we wait til after school, then meet in that back corner. Would that be okay with you?"

"That would be great!" Willow enthused, then her face fell a little. "Except that I can only be there for about an hour, because I promised I would help Giles with some inventory stuff later this evening. Would that be okay? I mean, we really need to see what you need help with and make a plan for it first thing and we can probably do that in an hour, right?"

Amy nodded her head and smiled. To her faint surprise, it felt genuine. "Yeah, that would be cool. I mean, I didn't warn my dad I would be late tonight, so I couldn't stay very long anyway. So, we have a plan and I'll see you after school, okay?" Willow grinned and nodded as well, just as the warning bell rang. "We both better run!" She started to turn and leave, but something made her turn back. "Oh and Willow? I'm glad we never stopped being friends. Sometimes I miss the old days, y'know?"

Willow gave her an understanding, sympathetic smile. "Yeah, I remember and I miss those days, too. We can talk about that too, later, okay?" Amy nodded and Willow waved and started walking backwards. "Okay, see you after school!" With that, the redhead spun and ran off toward her class, leaving the other girl still standing there, watching her leave.

As Amy watched Willow turn the corner, she smiled internally as the first part of her plan was finally put in place and was in motion. Now all she had to do was keep up the 'friends' act for a few weeks and all would be perfect. Although, why did she get this twinge inside herself when she thought of just pretending to be friends with Willow? After all, she didn't really need friends, did she? Once she had Willow under her control, they would be able to have anything they wanted in this Godforsaken town, but she didn't need to be 'friends' with her to control her. Still, a small but slowly growing part of her liked the thought of the two of them being like they were when they were kids. Best friends with each other and with Xander and Jesse. Would it be such a bad thing to have that again? Would it so mess up her plans to really be friends, not just pretend, to not just use her, then move on?

Amy didn't know, but that small part of her wanted to find out. It wanted to find out badly. Maybe, just maybe, the way this wish had worked out might not be so bad after all.

* * *

Xander, Dawn and Faith drove, slightly faster than the speed limit, along a road they'd last traveled nearly three years earlier and then, in the opposite direction. They'd been leaving the crater that Sunnydale had become in the aftermath of their epic battle with the First Evil. Each was lost within their own thoughts, though some of those, by necessity, overlapped, since the three of them had so many shared memories from their intended destination

For the tenth or eleventh time since they'd left LA, Faith asked, "So, Red didn't have any idea how SunnyHell came back? Not even a guess?"

Xander sighed and passed a slow moving mini-van before answering his lover. "No, she said she didn't know what happened, other than one of the Coven's seers had 'felt a great disturbance in the Force' and that they did a ritual to find out what was going on and found and extra Hellmouth. Another ritual said it was the ol' hometown Hellmouth, so they called Will and she called us. Other than that, I got nothin' except we'll be there in about half an hour, forty five minutes at the most. I figure if the town is back, we grab a late lunch, then explore and see if we can figure out what's going on. Sound good to you guys?"

From the backseat, Dawn said, "All but the part where we eat there before we've even tried to figure out what's going on. I vote for eating at one of the little places outside of town, then heading into town and look the place over. Faith?"

Faith stared straight ahead for a few minutes, then slowly nodded, clearly coming to a decision. "Dawnie's got a point about getting' food before we get to the old city limits. We have no idea why Sunny-D's back, so we have no real idea if it's safe to eat there yet. If we hit a restaurant and Safeway or somethin' before we get there, we won't have to worry about til tomorrow, earliest."

Xander just shrugged. "Makes sense. If I remember right, there's a pretty good sized truck stop kinda place a few miles out of town. We'll stop there, eat and stock up. We probably should also get our patrol weapons out of the trunk and put them up here with us, so we don't have to worry about it later."

The older brunette looked back at the younger. Dawn nodded and gave a little smile. "It's a plan." Closing her eyes, she leaned back into the seat. "Wake me when we get there, okay?"

* * * Story Idea * * *

Set 1-2 years after show, utterly ignoring the comics. Word gets to Scoobies that Sunnydale is back. No explanation, just the town is back, like it was never destroyed. Buffy sends Faith, Dawn and Xander to investigate. It's true, Sunnydale is back, but it's the Sunnydale from 7-8 years ago. The Scoobs are already there, but their 16-17 year old selves (Basically, this starts just before Kendra's arrival and Spike's attempts to revive Drusilla.)

The original plan was to use this to get Joyce, Jenny and Kendra back, as well as reform Amy. The only planned pairings/relationships were Xander/Faith/Dawn and young Willow/Amy, if I could make it work. I'd definitely planned to get rid of the duplicates of Wilkins, Spike and Drusilla, but Angel didn't lose his soul until after Kendra's first visit, so was still undecided about him. Also was fuzzy about what to do with the town full of dupes that were best part of a decade of off time. If anyone wants to play with this, please feel free.