Oz and Cordelia watched the drama unfold from above with Riley. Giles was going through a debriefing with Xander and Willow over what was in the Bronze. Riley had already clued them in as to the tension between the two vampires and the two Slayers.

“You think those two will ever figure it out?� asked Cordelia.

“They seem kind of dense,� said Riley.

“Oh, but watch. Soon, Buffy’s going to strike back. There’s going to be a whole fifth movie. Then we’ll have the return of the Buffy-Angel, which will end in Buffy/Spike, Faith/Angel.� The two of them looked over at Oz.

“Xander’s the only one that gets to make bad Star Wars analogies?� They turned back to the ground level.

**

“You’re telling me, it’s open? Anyone can go in there?�

“Yeah. Well, they’ll probably get attacked the minute they get in the doorway, but they can still go in.�

“It’s a suicide attempt, Giles,� said Xander seriously.

“I understand that, Xander—yet the two of you got in.�

“Once they saw our faces, they didn’t look beyond to the warm blood. Plus, I kind of cast a glamour to make us look cold and dead…. And evil,� said Willow.

“All right. But we could go in at any time and take them out?�

“We’d probably die trying,� said Xander.

Giles was struck again by how different they all seemed.

“What happened to the four of you in Los Angeles?�

Xander and Willow exchanged looks.

“Not now,� said Willow desperately.

“We’ll tell you after the apocalypse,� said Xander.

Giles gave the two of them a strange look, but moved on.

“We’ll have to try it, then,� he said. “I think that your previous disguises should work, combined with a few more glamours.�

“All right,� said Willow. “Let’s tell the others.�

“Wait a moment—not yet—tell them what, exactly?�

“That we’re taking back Sunnydale,� said Xander as he and Willow walked out of the room.

**

Oz looked up. “Come and enjoy,� he said quietly to Willow, gesturing to the people below.

“What’s going on?�

“Romantic tension,� Riley told her.

“With—with them?� Willow raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.� Cordelia looked brightly at Xander.

“Wait. There’s tension between Buffy and Dead boy?� Xander seemed to lose a bit of his development from L.A.

“Xander,� said Willow reprovingly.

“What’s up?� Riley stood up to face Willow.

“Giles had a plan. He wants us to go back in the Bronze; using our disguises. We could take them all out.�

“Sounds great,� said Oz. “What’s the catch?�

“The catch is that we’ll probably die,� said Xander.

“Maybe we should’ve stayed in L.A.,� said Cordy, upset all over again.

“No. No, we can’t go back. And we shouldn’t have stayed.� Willow had her “resolve face� on.

“I get that, I really do. But—I don’t know. That law firm would’ve been easier to take on than these guys.�

“Think of it as a large nest,� Xander advised her. “The vampires are all hoarding the designer label shoes, and you need to rescue them. You won’t have any problem at all.�

“Ha, ha.� She stood up, walking down the stairs. “Who’s ready for another suicide attempt?�

“What’s—Spike, what’re you doing?� Buffy’s eyes were wide in disbelief.

“What’s it look like?� He took the collar off of Faith gently. “Don’t go for that kind of thing, love,� he told her.

“Spike,� started Angel in a very low voice, “What are you doing?�

“Just being polite to the girl.�

“Polite? That what you call it in England?� Faith giggled a little. She didn’t think that the other two would buy it unless they were really that tired.

“No. There’s other things they call it in England, love…. I’ll tell you all about them.� He slid his hand around her neck; watching her face but knowing that it was driving the other two insane.

“Faith?� Buffy gave her a look.

“Chill out, B. Spike just helped save my life. I’m just a little grateful.� She shot a smile over her shoulder at the blonde vamp. “Want me to show you just how grateful?� She directed that at him, knowing that Angel was clenching and unclenching his fists.

“Who’s ready for another suicide attempt?� They all turned to look at Cordelia, who was smiling brightly, now at the bottom of the stairs.

“What’re you talking about?�

“Giles thinks we should all go back to the Bronze and take out the whole place. The sane people think he wants to commit suicide.� Her smile faded a little, because she was one of the sane people.

“Well, when?�

Faith crossed her arms, Spike’s arm around her shoulders.

“Tonight, after sunset. We’ll leave Giles here, but the rest of us are in.�

“Cordy, you guys know that—that this really could be a suicide attempt? This could be dangerous.�

“Oh, please.� She made an exasperated noise at him. “Like you guys were the only ones in trouble during the last few months?�

“Cordy,� said Xander warningly.

“Fine.� Buffy didn’t like the fact that they’d all abandoned her—she liked being reminded of it even less.

“You know what? It’s not fine.� Faith shrugged Spike’s arm off. “Why the hell did you guys leave? More importantly, why were the four of you dumb enough to come back?�

“It’s a long story,� said Willow.

“Evil law firm wanted my hide and Willow’s powers,� shrugged Oz.

“Apparently not that long,� Buffy pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but there were details—and there were issues.� Willow gave her an apologetic look, but Faith got in the way.

“Well, why don’t you just go into them, then?�

Willow looked around Faith to Buffy, who shrugged. There was no way out of this one, not with Spike so firmly on Faith’s side—and probably Angel too.

“It’s a long story,� she repeated, trying to convince them all that they wouldn’t want to hear it. “And not very exciting,� she added.

“Well, the suspense is killing me, here, Red. So why don’t you just tell us all a little daytime story while we wait for our ambush?� Spike raised one eyebrow at her.

She took a deep breath.

"You know how the Master showed up?" She knew that this wasn't going to be good, knew that they weren't going to be happy--she'd wanted to hide her part in this from them for a long time. She'd never wanted them to find out. "Yeah." Buffy shuddered; it had been like something from a nightmare.

"Well, Anyanka showed up at my house with--the other me and the other Xander. They killed my parents--I think that was just the other me. But then they wanted me to do another spell; to get her necklace back. I--I'd never done one before. So I tried it, but messed it up; I got the Master back instead of her amulet."

**

"Dammit!" Anyanka hit a table in rage. Willow squeaked in fear.

"This is.... Interesting. Willow... Xander..." He gave a little gasp. "Two of you? My, my, my."

"This is a whole new world."

"It's not like it was, though. Not the way that it was before..." Vampire Willow pouted. "Don't worry, my dear." "You--you're dead!" managed Willow. "So are you. This is incredibly strange."

**

"I'd seen them on the street, and I came to find you guys," said Cordelia. "I didn't know that there were multiples around."

"Okay." Buffy still remembered that--Cordelia tripping in, horrified, crying about Xander. Xander coming out of the stacks and her telling him that she was so glad he wasn't dead--even though he was still a lying, cheating asshole. She'd been weirded out enough to call Willow...

**

"Willow?"

"Hi!" The vampires watched her on the phone while Anyanka was busy grumbling in the background.

"Are you alright? Cordelia said--"

"Oh, pfft! Cordelia. Um, Buffy--the Master's back, there's another me and Xander's evil and--" Vampire Xander ripped the cord out of the wall. "I think that's enough chit-chat for now."

"The Slayer. She's here, then?"

"She's fun. She likes us," said Vampire Willow.

"She's going to kick your butts," said Willow. "Let her try," said the Master. He smiled. "I'd like another Slayer."

"I want my damned amulet back!" Anyanka was busy smashing things.