Giles looked at the empty bottle of scotch in his hand and sighed, burping. She'd been dead for only a couple of weeks and he had managed to put himself into a hole deeper than the one they buried her in.

The phone ringing stirred him from his pity pool. Damn ringer was too loud. "'Ello?"

"Mr. Giles?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"It's Wesley."

"Oh, right. Very well, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce, what can I do for you?"

"Its just Wesley now, Mr. Giles."

Giles looked confused for a moment. "Welsey."

"Wesley."

"Welsey." Giles tried again, his drunk tongue suddenly not wanting to wrap around the word correctly.

Wesley sighed. "Wes."

"Wes." Giles smiled in delight as the name worked. "Wes, old boy, what's up?"

"Have you been drinking, Mr. Giles?"

"Giles."

"What?" Now it was Wesley's turn to be confused.

"Everyone calls me Giles. I see no reason why you couldn't."

"Right. Giles. Well, have you?"

"Have I?"

"Well I certainly am beginning to suspect it."

"Yes, yes, you always were the suspicious kind."

"Giles, please focus."

Wesley took the phone away from his ear when he heard the clang that could only mean Giles had dropped the phone. Wesley wanted to laugh. Nice focus. He put the phone back to his ear to hear Giles scurrying to get the phone back to his mouth.

"HELLO!?"

Wesley winced at the volume. "Yes, Giles, I'm here."

"Focus and scotch don't mix."

At that Wesley did laugh.

Giles narrowed his eyes and hung up the phone.

*~*~*

When the morning came, so did the inevitable hangover. Giles tried to keep his head down and not move. Maybe then it would go away. Maybe then....

"Good morning!"

He groaned and pulled a pillow over his head.

Anya yanked open the drapes, letting the light come in. "I thought I would make breakfast for you today."

He mumbled under the pillow, refusing to come out from the shelter.

She paused at his desk. "You have messages." She stated as she pressed the play button.

"You have," the recorder began, "three messages. Message one: BEEP!"

A woman's voice came on the machine. "Rupert? Are you there? I think I left my panties-"

Anya pressed forward. "Well I don't need to hear that."

The second message was Wesley. "Giles? Old man have you finally passed out? Well, call us here when you're sober."

She looked to Giles. "You have become intoxicated?"

The third message was hard to make out. "Going.... can't.... thank you.... love...."

Giles looked to the machine. It was Buffy's voice. Giles bound out of the bed and to the machine and looked at his caller id. It was a pay phone, but he managed to see the numbers through the blur and write them down. Anya looked at him calmly.

"You aren't wearing any clothes, Giles."

"What?" Giles looked down and saw that he was indeed naked. Turning red Giles went to the bed and grabbed his robe from the foot of it, putting it on. Anya's eyebrows were risen and a small smile on her face.

"So what do you make of the message?"

"It sounds an awful lot like Buffy," he said, going back to the machine and pressing play again, erasing the first two messages and concentrating on the last only.

"Don' t you think you should call that Wesley fellow?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"He..." he glanced at Anya sheepishly, "he laughed at me."

Anya rolled her eyes. "You were probably being humorous. Now, call him back, it could be important."

Giles frowned. He took a deep breath. "Anya?"

"Yes?"

"Are you cooking bacon?"

"Oh no!" Anya bound out of the room to turn off her burning breakfast.

Giles replayed the message. "Going...can't...thank you...love." Giles repeated the words. Was she saying that she couldn't thank him enough? She loves him? She's going? Any of those things? All of them?

"Giles! It'll get cold!"

"How did you even get into this house?" He said from the door of what was once Buffy's kitchen.

"The front door." She scrapped burnt bacon into the trash and brought out another pan and more bacon.

"Hey guys." Dawn smiled from the kitchen doorway. "I'm going to go jogging before breakfast." She turned to leave when she heard Giles' voice.

"Jogging? Since when did you jog in the mornings?"

Dawn turned around with a smile on her face. "Since now."

Giles looked at her for a moment and sipped from a glass of orange juice Anya had handed him. He very promptly spit the orange juice back into the glass and looked at it. He noticed it was very thick and very syrupy.

"Anya?"

"Yes?"

"This orange juice wouldn't happen to be from concentrate, would it?"

"Yes, why? Did I not concentrate enough?" She looked worried. Giles just smiled and put the glass down, looking to Dawn again.

"Just be sure to be back in time to eat and get ready for school."

Dawn smiled and ran out of the house. If she was going to help the gang, she was going to have to start exercising and training. She meant to talk to Giles about training her, but she wanted to show commitment first. She planned to do that with her new routine of morning and after school jogs. She even planned to make sure she was current on her homework and pulling in good grades, since she knew that he would try to use that as an excuse not to train her. She was going to be extra diligent on her chores, knowing that they could possibly be used as an excuse. She was leaving nothing to chance.

*~*~*

Dawn had a normal routine now that she jogged. Down to the cemetery, around to the high school, back around that same way. She turned up the volume on her walkman and proceeded to pick up her pace to the music.

She was so lost in the music and jog that she didn't even notice him until it was too late. Both she and the man she ran into fell to the ground. He did make nice padding though. His arms went around her to keep her from falling into the road. "Are you okay?" he asked before pausing. "Dawn?"

Dawn looked up into those blue eyes that never got to say goodbye to her sister. "Riley!" She hugged him.

*~*~*

After breakfast, Giles had called Willow and with her computer, they located the pay phone in question. Right by the cemetery. He showered and dressed before heading out the door. He could almost hear Buffy's light voice talking about his car. "That little two door tramp."

He smiled and pressed the speed limit to get there.

His smile faded when he neared the cemetery and saw Dawn talking to Riley. What was he doing back here?

Giles pulled up beside them and Dawn smiled at Giles. Her smile faded when she saw his cross look. Riley looked at Giles and frowned. Giles didn't look happy to see him.

"Giles."

Giles got out of his car.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"I...I came to see Buffy." He looked confused when Giles looked at Dawn and Dawn looked down to the ground.

"You want to see Buffy?" Giles' eyes were flashing in anger. He grabbed Riley's arm and started to steer him into the cemetery.

"Hey! What the hell?" He tried to pull loose but Giles had a good grip and was much stronger than he looked. The way his eyes glittered with anger and with the hard set to his jaw, Riley wondered if he was seeing some of the infamous Ripper. He quit fighting when Giles tightened his hold and sped up. He just kept up. Dawn was following behind, silently. Riley started to get shivers down his spine. Something was up.

When Giles pushed Riley, he lost his footing, surprised by the action. Falling on his knees jarred him from his thoughts. "Damnit, what the hell was going on?" he wondered to himself. He was about to get up and thrash Giles, old or not, when his eyes touched on the tombstone.

Dawn watched with tears in her eyes. She didn't want to tell him this way. She didn't know what Giles' problem was, but right now she was focused on the big man, still kneeling at her sister's grave.

"When?" Riley's voice was shaky.

"A couple of weeks." Giles glared at his back. "Maybe if you hadn't of abandoned her, she'd still be here to tell you what a bastard you are!" Giles turned and started to walk away.

"That's not possible."

Giles stopped. "Why?"

"This grave has been dug up. The dirt's been moved." Riley put his hands in the soft, recently moved dirt.

Dawn swallowed. "What?"

Giles looked at the ground as well. "Dear Lord...."

*~*~*

Riley looked into Buffy's room and leaned on the doorframe. Maybe if he hadn't left she wouldn't have died. He sighed and stepped into the room, picking up Mr. Gordo and sitting on the bed.

"Now you show up."

Riley looked up to Xander's angered eyes. "I didn't know."

Xander stepped in, his arms crossed. "No, you ran. You ran and wouldn't let her know you were even still alive. Why did you even bother to come back?"

Riley glared. "Hey back off! I gave her a chance."

"You mean after you decided to be all vampire food?"

The soldier leaped up from the bed, tossing the stuffed pig aside, and tackled Xander to the ground, fists flying.

"NO!"

Both men were flung to the walls as Willow came up the stairs. "Knock it off! Both of you!"

*~*~*

Giles flipped the page in the book and sighed. He's been researching resurrections and ghosts but found nothing of use. It had to have been Buffy that called. But what was her message? Why was she back? The loose soil was real enough. And somewhere, in his heart, could almost feel her back.

His first inclination was to question Dawn about resurrections. He knew she had tried to resurrect Joyce. But she didn't have anything to do with it. He was sure about that now.

Part of him felt bad for unloading on Riley like he did, but he couldn't help the anger he felt. He needed someone to blame. Someone besides himself.

**~**

Riley and Xander stood on opposite sides of the kitchen, each rubbing a sore spot on them. Riley sporting a black eye. Xander felt better when he saw the eye start to darken.

"We need both of you, so quit acting like immature boys and get over here." Willow shook her head at them both.

"W-what do you w-want to do?" Tara looked at Willow. She was still a bit nervous about things right now. She could still feel the hopeless lost feeling that had enveloped her during the time in between Glory feeding from her and Willow saving her. Everyone could see the hero worship she held in her eyes for Willow.

"Giles got a phone call from someone who sounded like Buffy."

Riley sat down beside Willow and Xander sat beside Anya.

"Giles, Dawn, and I saw the loose dirt at her grave," Riley offered.

"The phone call came from a pay phone by the cemetery."

"Which one?" Xander asked.

"The one she's in." Willow looked at everyone.

"Looks like she's been resurrected or turned into a vampire." Dawn said quietly.

Willow nodded. "Looks like."

The room fell silent for a few moments with everyone taking in what had to obviously be the most horrid thing they could ever come to imagine.

Riley broke the silence. "Who else around here knows how to resurrect?"

Xander narrowed his eyes. "Gee, this being the Hellmouth? I'm guessing quite a few people."

Riley clinched his fists.

Willow scowled. "Do I have to make myself clear again?"

Both boys looked to her. "No ma'am."

*~*~*

Spike stood as the door to his crypt opened. "Little bit?"

Dawn stepped in. "Hi Spike." She kept her eyes down.

"What's wrong?"

She broke down crying as she told him what was going on. He hugged her and listened to the entire thing. She couldn't tell what was going through his mind. His face was a blanket of concern for how Dawn was feeling. She was glad for that. Because right now she didn't know how to feel.

When she was finished, she sat down. "I just... I don't understand! Why is this happening?"

He paced. "I don't know. You say the message... Did you hear it?"

She shook her head. "No. Giles said that it was all muffed up anyway."

He looked out at the dusk. "Let's go." He grabbed his duster and headed for Giles'.

*~*~*

Giles took another drink and pressed play again. "Going.... Can't.... Thank you.... Love...." It was like a dream that he just couldn't remember.

The phone ringing startled him. "'Ello?"

"Giles?" the feminine voice chimed.

"Yes?"

"It's Cordelia. Wesley said you hung up on him yesterday."

He sighed. "Yes, I did."

"Rude much? He was just calling to see how you are."

"Well in the future, perhaps he could remember not to laugh at me."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Don't be Mr. Grouchy-pants. He's heading to Sunnydale now."

Giles sighed. "Why?"

"Oh man, Watcher's turf. Do you mark your territory like common animals?"

"Cordelia..." His voice held a warning.

"I had a vision. About Buffy."

Giles went silent.

"She was acting very strange."

"Strange how?"

"The look on her face was like she had a permanent wedgie or something and she was surrounded by..."

Click.

"Cordelia?" Giles used his hand to hang up the phone and listened for a dial tone. None came. Giles put the phone down and picked up a stake and started to search his apartment. The search turned up nothing. He heard a thump from outside. He grabbed his crossbow and slowly went outside, armed.

**~**

"What is HE doing here?" Xander exclaimed. Riley glared at the doorway. They were unified in their distaste at the new visitor.

"If you think you can sneeze without me knowing you're wrong, mate." Spike took a puff of his cigarette.

"Guys, leave him alone, he's here to help." Dawn looked at them. Riley looked at her in astonishment.

"This is your idea of help?"

"Seeing as how we're slayer-less? Yes." She crossed her arms.

Riley looked down.

Spike leaned on the wall. "So what's the plan then?" When no one had an answer, he grinned. "Brilliant. Glad you thought long and hard about that." He pushed himself from the wall and strolled into the living room. "Now where's this message?"

Dawn grabbed the micro cassette and stuck it into a mini-player she bought. "Going.... Can't.... Thank you.... Love...."

Spike's eyes narrowed. That was defiantly Buffy's voice. The muddled background.... "Play it again."

Dawn did and Spike leaned closer. "She's not alone."

"What?"

Spike looked to them all. "Two breathing patterns. Buffy may be back, but not alone."

*~*~*

Giles held the crossbow out in front of him and scanned the back yard, the dim light making him squint. Seeing a shadow in the distance, he crept towards it and aimed. "Don't move."

The figure jumped and squealed like a girl.

Giles lowered the bow. "Welsey? Er, Wesley? What on bloody Earth...?"

Wesley put a hand to his chest. "Good God man!"

"Well what are you doing sneaking around the yard?"

"I thought I saw someone come around back here and so I had hoped to find out who they are."

"Well, one thing's for sure."

Wesley looked at him.

"Your scream either scared the perpetrator away or it would have made them laugh and give up their position."

Wesley narrowed his eyes. "Oh ha-ha, Giles. There is nothing funny about a grown man who screams."

Giles turned to go back in the house and mumbled, "That's only true if you don't hear the pitch or see your face while you do it."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." Giles smiled as they entered the house. Wesley closed the door behind them and turned toward the living room. He and Giles both froze.

"Joyce..."

**~**

"Where is the watcher, already?" Spike paced impatiently.

"He said he'd be here." Tara offered quietly.

"Did you try his number again?" Xander asked, anxiously.

"Yes. It's busy." Anya said.

"Well who the bleeding hell is he talking to?"

"They don't just hand out that information, dolt." Riley rolled his eyes.

"Riley..." Dawn began, but got interrupted by Spike.

"Well you girls can wait all you want. I'm not.

He stormed out the door.

"Good riddance," Xander yelled after him. The others all took a seat and started to brainstorm their options.

"H-hey...where is Dawn?" Tara frowned.

Riley looked around and cursed under his breath. "Spike."

Everyone gathered their equipment and headed out after the pair.

*~*~*

She was very real looking, sitting there on his couch, looking at them. She blinked but did little else as they stared. Giles could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Could this really be her? He stepped forward and repeated: "Joyce?"

The figure on the couch didn't react.

Wesley moved closer as well. "Mrs. Summers?"

She blinked and looked at him. "Why do you call me by such names? I am Manitoi."

*~*~*

"Wait up!" Dawn jogged up to Spike and smiled.

He scowled. "Dawn, you should be with the others. You could get hurt out here."

She lost her smile. "Buffy was slaying at my age. I might as well learn." She looked straight ahead as she kept up with his pace.

He grinned. "Full of fire, eh Pet?"

She nodded. "You bet."

He stopped before going up to Giles' porch. "Something's not right."

*~*~*

Xander and Riley stayed on opposite sides of the group. Willow could feel the tension pulsing between them. It wasn't safe. For any of them. They needed to be able to rely on each other to stay alive.

Willow sighed and stopped. "Okay. Now I'm all for the 'bad Riley for bailing' thing. But there's a time and a place for that. And now isn't it."

Everyone else stopped and turned to her.

Willow narrowed her eyes. "Now you're going to have to trust...."

"Trust?" Riley laughed. "That's a nice concept."

Xander crossed his arms. "I'm just wondering when he's going to run or make himself vampire bait again."

"Yeah well maybe if she hadn't been such a closed off BITCH, I wouldn't of felt the need in the first place!" Riley's eyes flashed with anger and he turned and walked off, leaving everyone so stunned they couldn't move for a moment.

Xander broke that when he looked at Willow. "He just called Buffy a bitch."

Willow hung her head a little.

"He called her a bitch. She's dead and he is calling her a bitch. Isn't that like desecrating the dead or something?" Xander's adrenaline started to rise. "Let's kick his ass!"

"No." Tara spoke up.

Xander glanced at Tara but basically dismissed her. He looked at Willow. "Come on! You with your hocus...we could pocus the shit out of him!" He looked livid. Willow looked at Tara and then back to Xander.

"Xan...I don't think now is the time or place..."

"What is it with you and the times and places of things?" Xander interrupted. "If you three don't think anymore of her than that, then fuck you all!" He stormed off after Riley.

Willow, Anya, and Tara watched him go in wide-eyed disbelief.

"Xander?" Anya frowned. "He doesn't usually get so upset."

"It must be the pressure of it all. He and Buffy were pretty close." Willow said, trying to convince herself as well.

**~**

"Manitoi?" Wesley looked at Giles to see if he recognized the name. Giles looked like he was scanning his brain for it. When his eyes lit up, Wesley knew Giles remembered something.

"What is it?"

Giles studied Joyce, ignoring Wesley.

"What is it, I say." Wesley started to sound irritated. He was always being ignored. But not now, damnit. He felt his brainpower was as good as if not superior to Giles.

Wesley grabbed Giles by the coat and threw him against the wall. "Don't IGNORE ME!" Wesley face was contorted into rage. Giles' face matched. He took his glasses off and tossed them aside.

"You insolent ass! You think because you went through watcher training that you will ever match up to me? I was so far advanced as a watcher, you'd never catch up. At least MY slayer wanted to be around ME!"

Wesley was breathing heavily from anger and adrenaline rushes. "Well at least mine still LIVES!"

Giles lunged for Wesley and they rolled around on the ground punching and fighting each other giving it everything they had.

When Spike opened the door and saw the two watchers scraping on the ground he sighed and shook his head in disbelief.

"Here now! What's going on here?"

The two continued to fight, not paying any attention to Spike. Dawn's gasp beside him made him look up a little, and he spotted Joyce.

"Mom?" Dawn took a few steps inside. Spike took her arm.

"That ain't your mom, lil bit." Spike sniffed the air. "That's a demon."

"What?" Dawn looked up at Spike, clearly wanting to believe that it was her mother.

"I am Manitoi." Joyce started toward the two, stepping over the fighting men. "You are a vampire. And you," she looked at Dawn, "are the key."

Spike put Dawn behind him.

"What is a Manitoi?"

"Adrenaline demon. Doesn't work on vamps but it makes men angry and hostile and women anxious and excited."

Dawn could feel herself getting more antsy than usual. She realized she was wringing her hands together and wondered how long she had been doing that.

Joyce stepped closer. "We came for the right one."

Spike vamped and held Dawn back.

*~*~*

Riley fists were clenched almost as tight as his jaw. He went into the cemetery and sat in front of Buffy's headstone. For some reason, he found it oddly calming.

"Come back here you asshole!" Xander's footsteps were tredding closer.

Riley's rage began to rise again as he stood and turned. "You know what Harris? You're about to get the ass kicking of your life." He balled his fists and was punching as soon as he stepped up to him.

A blinding flash stopped them. Turning to the light, they gasped. "Buffy..."

*~*~*

Willow led the way as they headed to the cemetery. Xander's behavior replayed in her mind. It was almost like it wasn't really Xander. She had never known Xander to tell her to 'fuck off'.

As they neared the cemetery they saw Xander and Riley both fighting while being watched over by Buffy. Willow gasped and stopped. She began to get very excited. Buffy was back! But what if she was a vampire? What if she was changed? Anxiety began to come over her and she looked at the others, all their expressions reflected anxiety. They fidgeted and they rocked back and forth on their feet. Willow moved back away from them. The farther back she got the better she felt. It was Buffy. Buffy was causing these feelings and she was sure Buffy was causing the guys to fight like they were going to kill the other. If not, Buffy would have tried to stop it by now. She just seemed to stand there.

Willow remembered reading once about an ancient race of demons called the Manitoi. They caused everyone's feelings to go berserk and they manifested themselves in the form of dead friends or family. It wasn't that the demon actually looked like Buffy as much as that was what they all saw when they looked at it. This meant that there was a good chance Buffy was still buried in her grave and that the moved dirt was nothing more than a decoy to make us believe the demon actually was Buffy.

This was going to be bad. Somehow they had to figure out a way to neutralize the effect of the Manitoi or else they'd be too emotionally messed up to deal with it.

**~**

Spike pushed Dawn towards the door and jumped towards the demon that looked like Joyce. She sprung into action fighting toe to toe with Spike like she had done it a million times. Truly their fight was so intricate that it was almost as if it were a practiced dance. Dawn stared on in fascination.

Giles and Wesley continued to tussle on the ground. They rolled around and threw punches when they could get them in. Dawn glanced from them to Spike. If he couldn't destroy the demon, it was possible that Giles or Wesley might eliminate the other.

Getting the upper hand, the Manatoi flung Spike away and proceeded to walk to Dawn then paused. "Are you afraid?"

Dawn nodded franticly. "Y-Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know what you want. And because you're gonna hurt me."

It tilted its head slightly to the side. "I am not planning on-" It was cut off. Literally. The head rolled to Dawn's feet, taking on the appearance of some blue demon. She looked up and saw Spike standing with a sword in his hand.

Giles and Wesley stopped their fighting and looked at each other in bewilderment. "Welsey?"

Wesley glared. "It's Wesley old man now get off of me!"

Giles obliged and held out his hand. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure..." His eyes trailed to the blue demon on the floor. "Ah yes, I had forgotten about that."

*~*~*

Xander swung his fist hard. "You're not going near her you shit-head!"

Riley caught his fist and pulled him into a wristlock. "Fuck you! She can make up her own mind!"

The Buffy image simply stood there. "This isn't right. You aren't the ones." She turned to the two girls who were still close by and walked toward them. Tara shifted and rung her hands together. Anya's eyes were wild and searching. Willow saw her approach and started towards them, every step making her more and more anxious.

Buffy looked over Tara and Anya and frowned. "You are not the ones." She walked towards Willow, dismissing the two. She looked her over but then dismissed her just as quickly. Before anyone could react, Buffy was gone.

Xander and Riley instantly pushed away from each other and stopped fighting. They stared at each other in disbelief.

"What happened?" Xander said.

"I don't know. All the sudden I just felt like I needed to hurt you." Riley stood up and helped Xander.

"I'm sure you aren't the first to be overcome with that emotion." Xander smiled wryly. Riley returned his smile.

The girls approached them and looked at them warily.

"No more trying to kill each other?" Willow said hesitantly.

"No...we're cool now." Xander smiled. "And I'm sorry about earlier. What is going on?"

"Where did Buffy go?" Riley looked around.

"That wasn't Buffy." Willow took a deep breath.

"But what about her grave?" Xander asked.

"I don't know. But that was not Buffy."

"What do you mean, that wasn't Buffy? What about her grave?" Xander asked.

"I don't know. I just know that wasn't Buffy."

"S-she's right. T-that wasn't Buffy." Tara nodded her agreement.

"So what was it?" Riley asked cautiously.

"I think...I'm not sure but I think it was a Manitoi."

"What's a Manitoi?" Xander asked.

"A demon." Anya nodded.

"Demon of what? Fight?" Xander glanced at Riley and then looked back at his girlfriend.

"Adrenaline."

"A demon for adrenaline. What else will those kooky demon makers come up with?" Xander asked.

Riley ignored him. "Why come here as Buffy?"

"Someone close. Someone who could get close," Willow thought aloud.

"The Manitoi leave a residue of adrenaline. It's not their main purpose."

Everyone waited for Anya to continue.

"Well?" Xander asked.

"Oh! Well it's simple really. It's a collector."

"Would it maybe want to collect a key?" Tara added.

Everyone cast a look her way before bolting back to Giles'.

*~*~*

Wesley was holding an icepack to his black eye as Giles finished cleaning up his own wound on his arm. Dawn was sitting on the couch drinking a cup of cocoa. Spike had gotten rid of the demon body and sat down as well. "Now wasn't that fun."

Dawn gave Spike a sympathetic look.

The door suddenly burst open and Buffy was standing there, surveying the scene. Spike stood up slowly, awe-struck by the vision of his love.

"Buffy."

Dawn stood up and looked at Spike. Wesley and Giles started to argue again. Dawn was sure their arguing would turn into a fight soon.

"Spike...take the boys into another room...they'll be more of a distraction than anything."

"No way, lil bit. I'm not leaving you." His look was more controlled than before, his voice steady. "This is not your sister."

"I know."

Dawn looked suddenly a great deal more grown up. She stood tall, her head held high.

Buffy smiled when her eyes fell onto Dawn. "You are the one."

Spike attacked. He and the demon grappled for the right to Dawn. Dawn watched impassively.

"She loved you." The demon told Spike.

"Shut up filthy demon!" Spike kicked at the demon's head.

"But you failed her." The demon ducked his kick and shoved him hard. Spike smacked hard against the wall, sliding down it, dazed.

Buffy started towards Dawn. Dawn immediately took to a fighting stance. "Come and get me."

Buffy stopped and regarded her silently. She then nodded and got into fighting stance herself.

At first, Dawn was having a little trouble keeping up with Buffy. She had only ever watched actual fights, but having watched Buffy train extensively she felt like she had some advantage to fighting her now. Or at least she had and inkling of how to fight. She was able to stay in motion longer than she would have thought before Buffy knocked her to the ground.

Dawn watched from the floor as Buffy walked towards her.

Spike stuck his boot out, tripping the demon and Dawn used the time to flip up to her feet. She grabbed a sword off the wall and quickly beheaded it. As soon as it was dead it started to take the shape of its true nature.

Spike stood beside Dawn and took the sword from her shaking hands.

"Good show, pet."

Dawn smiled at him shakily. "I have more of my sister in me than I thought."

Spike smiled and hugged Dawn to him. "She'd be proud."

Dawn smiled proudly. Finally she felt like a Scoobie. Finally she felt like she could hold her own. For the first time.