Her weapon arches through the air, drawing blood. She feels it slice through demon flesh, batter against mystical steal and swing lightly in her hands.

The Scythe. It’s power, it’s strength… it’s name I can never remember. Oh well. Doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how to use it.

Haven’t wielded the Scythe since I shattered the Seed. But I guess that makes sense: I haven’t tried to do something this impossible since then.

The battle for entry into the Deeper Well has been raging for forty-two minutes. Buffy continues to make her way through the demons around her, putting them out of action, heading for the hollow in the tree that is her target. She briefly looks behind her at Willow, floating in the sky, blasting fire and light from her hands. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that. She leaps down from hitting one demon and finds herself face to face with a familiar sight. Been not long enough since I’ve seen this one.

“Let me by.”

D’Hoffryn doesn’t laugh, or joke or make some obscene reference. He simple tells her. “Not a chance, Slayer.”

He’s under the impression I’m asking. “I need to help my sister.” She swings the Scythe, hears it whistle through the air and watches as magical globes appear, multi-coloured, swirling around the demon’s hands. He catches the Scythe, mid-strike! “You have already damaged this world beyond repair. You cannot be allowed to enter the Deeper Well.”

In the sky, Willow sees her friend in peril and shouts. As she powers up a blast, another mystical bolt of energy slams into Willow’s back, followed by the large green Zen woman. The large God declares that Willow is using power she shouldn’t have. Willow shakes her off and sarcastically informs her than people who are Zen don’t usually fight either.

The ricochet blasts Willow down towards the ground and she lands with a thud, still forming puns. She gets up immediately and gets back to back with Buffy, her hands glowing. Buffy grips her Scythe and raises it up.

“It’s times like this I miss that army we used to have.”

“Gonna have to agree with you.”

“You take the demons. I’ll take everything else.”

Willow stops for a moment and looks back at Buffy with alarm. “Speaking of everything else… Where’s Xander?”

A short distance away from the battle, Xander hides in the foliage, placing his axe on the ground.

He’s frantic, whispering at his phone, urging it to send it’s message. He looks down at it. It’s asking Simone if she’s inside.

On the other side of the Deeper Well, in New Zealand, the little girl that holds the red balloon, has her mouth open, but no words are coming out. Severin remains silent as Simone threatens the child-like creature. “Let us in, little girl.”

The little girl finally speaks, sounding just like you would expect a little girl to sound. She starts to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Please go. You’re upsetting me.”

Simone doesn’t seem to care. She cocks her gun and points it, aiming it squarely at the little girl’s head. “I’m sorry,” she snarls, sarcastically. “But all your friends left.” She looks the little girl in the eyes, smile on her face. She suggests the girl leaves too.

The girl is crying now, even bordering on hysterical. “I can’t,” she wails. “I have to guard the tree. Why won’t you leave me alone?”

Suddenly, both Simone and Severin jump in fright as the red balloon that has always been tethered to the girl’s wrist, loudly and without any apparent cause, pops. A plant like creature, with no definable form or shape comes forth from the remains of the balloon scattered on the ground. It’s the same voice as the balloon, but it’s louder and more threatening.

“You heard her. Leave her alone.”

Simone is knocked over by the creature and pointlessly fires her gun at it, every shot wasted as it tries to pierce the demon’s hide. It pins her to the ground and opens what looks like it’s jaw.

“Did you think the Council would leave the Deeper Well completely undefended?” It snarls at her now, fetid breath on her face, but Simone doesn’t stop struggling. She never stops fighting. And the look of hate in her face is permanent. Suddenly the demon stops talking and she looks up at it, an evil grin on her face.

“Undefended? They practically did.” Severin has come up behind the little girl, still crying on the sidelines. He uses his powers and siphons off her energy and the little girl convulses in his magical grip. Then she drops to the floor and the balloon is all that remains, the strands of plastic left to blow on the breeze.

Simone checks her phone when it beeps. She looks urgently at Severin, tells him that Buffy won’t be able to distract the Council for much longer. Severin, still glowing with stolen energies, looks high for a moment and, as his skin stops sparking, he turns to Simone. “Tell Harris to buy us some more time.”

In Andrew‘s San Francisco apartment, the video on the laptop crackles. Something is interfering with the signal and the person on the other end struggles to get through.

“Billy? Billy, can you hear me?”

Andrew is walking around the apartment, trying to feel useful. He’s baking cookies and is currently offering yet another batch around the room. Billy and Anaheed are circling the computer, trying to clear the screen. It’s Billy’s boyfriend, Devon, calling from Santa Rosita.

As Billy clears the screen, Devon and Katie can be seen on the other end. Devon tells Billy that he has to come home. Billy insists that while he appreciates Devon’s request, he can’t just leave right now. He explains about Dawn, but Andrew offers a treat at that moment and Devon is momentarily annoyed.

“You’re eating cookies? They’re eating people!” He shows him an image behind him on the local news. Vampires are running around Santa Rosita, eating and roaming indiscriminately. His next sentence chills Billy even more. “And Billy, these don’t need invites to get in.”

A group of vampires appear on the monitor, showing the creatures breaking down some poor soul’s front door. Billy is stunned and looks straight at Anaheed.

“I need to go home.”

Anaheed agrees. “You need to go home.” She starts packing Billy’s bag, and for some reason, hers.

Andrew looks at them in alarm. He turns and asks them. “What about Dawn?”

In another part of the apartment, Spike sits outside the bathroom door on the floor. The door has been locked from the inside by Dawn, who’s barricaded herself in. Spike, gently and not forcefully, taps on the door. “Open up, niblet.”

“No! Go away!”

“Can’t do that, love.”

Dawn is leaning against the door, unable to move. She looks like she has no energy to get up. “Leave me alone. Please. I can’t sit out there and pretend I remember any of you. And every time I try it just reminds me of the scariest thing of all: I can’t remember who I am.”

“What’s happening to you is a whole big lot of scary, but you need to hang on until your big sis gets back with enough magic to stop your disappearing act. And I’m going to help you do that.”

Dawn’s voice seems to perk up, not much, but slightly, through the door. She pleads with him. “You can make it stop?”

“No, but I can take away some of the scare.”

“How?”

“By telling you a story. About a person who can always pull me out of a funk. You.” He settles back down on the floor and prepares to tell his tale…

Buffy is still battling through the crowd of demons as Willow fires magical energy down on the army from above. The battle has now been going for an hour and thirty six minutes.

Xander watches from a distance, out of sight of his friends and their adversaries. His phone beeps and he looks down an a received message from Simone. It says that she and Severin need more time. Xander scoffs and looks up at the din of the battle site, fire and energy blasting. The sounds of war fill the night. He whispers back to Simone in the dark. “I don’t think you’re gonna get it.”

Suddenly, a thick, lumbering form comes from behind him, out of the foliage. “Hey, why don’t you pick on someone…”

When he turns, Xander sees a large creature, a face like an anteater, although Xander can tell, from his green scales and his sharp teeth that it’s not one of those. “…pick on someone, much, much smaller than you…” He backs away from the demon, slowly as it approaches him. He picks up his axe.

In the tide of battle, Willow, high in the sky, her eyes black, yells at Buffy. “Go,” she shouts, urging Buffy forward. The time to push is now.

She leaps over a row of demons with ease and ignores anything that gets caught in her path. She races for the tree, determination on her face, teeth gritted and sees D’Hoffryn coming towards her, magic flowing, teeth snarling a warning: “Retreat, Slayer.”

“I’ll die first.” Buffy swings her blade above her head, preparing to strike her old enemy down, but she’s suddenly zapped back by an energy blast. She doesn’t get a chance to strike back, however, as a gargoyle comes down from the dark skies and grabs her in his large claws. He throws himself up into the air, dragging Buffy, kicking and screaming, with him.

Rapidly losing her temper and unable to use her Scythe in her position, she yells at the demon to put her down. She is stunned when he grants her request, but then looks down and realises how high she is. She falls like a stone and lands, bumpy, on a grassy verge. She gets up and sees the creature menacingly walk towards her.

“You guys are way too literal.” Buffy tries desperately to reach out, grab her fallen weapon, but the creature pins her down, preparing to strike. It smashes down on her hand to stop her from reaching the blade, but stops suddenly as his eyes open in surprise. Buffy hears a slicing of… something, as the demon falls before her, a large gaping wound in the back of his neck.

Buffy looks at the blade in the creature’s flesh as it’s wielder pulls it free with the same strange noise. It’s Eldre Koh and he’s flanked by the powerless Illyria. Buffy is surprised to see them. The Merciless Old One, although depowered and looking human, still speaks with authority. “D’Hoffryn put out word that the Cotswalds passage was under attack.”

Koh sneers. “We did not expect it to be you.”

Buffy gets up, picking herself up of the ground. She looks at them both and sighs. “The night’s full of surprises. But you’re not stopping me from getting inside the Well.”

Koh surprises her with his next sentence. “We are on your side, Slayer.”

Buffy scoffs, remembering their past. “Until D’Hoffryn tells you he can name names in your quest for vengeance.”

Illyria stays silent as Koh comes closer to the Slayer, unarmed and arms outreached. “You need our help. You cannot do this alone.”

Buffy stares at him in hard defiance and turns away. She doesn’t look back as she walks. “Watch me.”

Koh calls after her again, exasperation in his voice. “Do you know why I was imprisoned?”

“Still walking away.”

“My family was killed and I was blamed for their deaths.” Buffy stops. She instantly feels bad for the guy. She turns, quietly and looks at him in shock.

“Sorry you got Shawshanked, but it doesn’t change anything.” There is a genuine look of regret in her eyes.

Koh walks towards her again until now they’re looking at each other, face to face. “It does, Slayer. I have finally accepted a difficult truth. No matter what I do, my family will never be returned to me. Your sister can still be returned to you.”

He stares at her, his yellow eyes expectantly awaiting a response. “If you let us help.”

In San Francisco, fed up of sitting on the floor, Spike has gotten a chair and has now taken to leaning precariously back on it, his feet up on the door handle to the bathroom. He’s mid-story and an enraptured Dawn listens eagerly on the other side of the door.

“You got sick of everyone chattering behind your back, so you decided to find out what the big hush was all about. You snuck out of the house, quite skilfully I might add, but had the unfortunate luck of running into me.”

He doesn’t hear anything from inside the bathroom, so he continues. “Didn’t seem to like me much back then. But that’s changed. We broke into the Magic Box together. You found Giles’s diary and that’s where you learned the truth.”

He sighs, remembering the moment with crystal clarity. “That you were the Key. Which is how we come to be in this mess today.”

Suddenly, Dawn’s weak voice comes through, but it’s not coming through a locked door now. Dawn has opened it and is staring up at Spike. “You were there when I learnt I was the Key?”

Spike makes sure he doesn’t fall off his chair and looks up at Dawn happily. “You remember?”

She sadly shakes her head, but still smiles at him. “No, but it seems… right. Like some part of me deep down… knows it’s true.”

Spike puts his arms around her as she pulls him into a hug. He leans down, whispers softly to her. “I’ve been with you since the beginning, little bit. Since a bunch of monks decided to spell you into existence. So that’s why I’m not leaving you until the Slayer gets back here.”

“What happened after I found out I was the Key?”

“Funny you should ask, because you gave everyone a scare and the Slayer blamed me…” He stops mid-sentence. Dawn looks at him, concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Hang on, little bit.” Spike rushes off in the direction of Andrew. He storms through the living area, where Billy and Anaheed are still packing. He’s shouting Andrew’s surname loudly. “WELLS!”

As he stomps into Andrew’s room, Andrew looks confused when Spike looks at him angrily. “Get me a bloody tape recorder now!”

As he searches for a recorder in amongst his belongings, Andrew asks why he needs it, but Spike, in terror, grabs a hold of Andrew’s arm. “Because I’m starting to forget Dawn too. And how are we going to save someone we can’t remember?”

At the Deeper Well entrance, Xander struggles to fend off the menacing creature that has him in his grip. He tries to talk to the demon, reason with it, to no avail. Suddenly, he hears Willow shouting down at him from the air. “Incoming!”

A projectile comes dropping from the sky and lands on the demon, squishing it flat, demon body parts squelching around them as she lands. She’s angry, her eyes are black and she’s handling living flame in her hands. Xander asks her if she’s okay.

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

As Xander picks his phone off the ground where it fell, Willow fills him in on what’s been happening. “The Council called in reinforcements to set up a perimeter around the Deeper Well. A couple of level-three mystics, half a dozen demons I’ve never seen before. And I think a Demi-God just showed up?”

Xander turns when he hears Buffy’s voice. It’s confident and strong. Undeterred. “They’re not the only ones with reinforcements.” Eldre Koh and Illyria stand directly behind her, backing her up. “And we don’t stop until we get inside.”

Down on the New Zealand side of the Well, Simone and Severin are making their way through to their target at the centre. Simone’s phone beeps and rings. She recognises Xander’s number. As soon as she picks up the phone, she can hear his whispered annoyance.

“Why aren’t we back in time? Why am I still standing in the present that I don’t like very much at all?” Xander is shrill down the line, not wanting the others to hear him.

“Chill out, Harris. What we’re doing is going to take time.” As she finishes her sentence, she looks around her. They’ve reached the bridge at the centre of the Deeper Well and can see down into the depths of the Earth.

“You need to keep all those magical beings topside busy for a little while longer.”

“Buffy can’t win this fight. She’s going to get herself killed!” Simone is calm on the other end. She reminds him that when this is done, no one will remember this part. Xander loses his temper and now shouts down the line at the renegade.

“The only reason I said I’d help you was so I wouldn’t have to watch someone I love die!” He hangs up in fury, ensuring he hasn’t been heard, and clicking off an incoming call.

In San Francisco, outside the apartment, Spike is the caller trying to get through. “Xander. If you’re listening to this, it means you’re a dozy nugget who’s forgotten someone very close to you…”

He’s interrupted by Anaheed and Billy, bags packed and ready to go. They ask him if he could get a message to Buffy.

“Do I look like a bloody answering machine?” He turns to yell at them, and, as he does, realises what he was doing when they approached. “Never mind.”

“We tried calling Buffy, but she wasn’t answering.”

“That’s because, with a bit of luck, she’s already half a mile underground.”

Anaheed tightens her bag strap on her shoulder. “In case you talk to her before we get back, will you tell her something about Simone Doffler for us?”

“Spill it, but make it quick. I’ve got the Slayer’s little sis to remember.” Spike barely looks back at them.

In England, Buffy is in a clearing, surrounded by her allies. She has drawn a crude map in the ground and is explaining her plan.

She directs Koh from the right, and Xander from the left. Willow and Illyria will go from the rear and Buffy will take them from the front. The goal is to gain entrance into the Well as quickly as they can and then escape with enough magic to cure Dawn.

Her allies nod at the plan in confirmation, as Xander reapproaches the group. Willow explains what her role is once they’re inside. “If I can get far enough inside, I should be able to get the magic I need to keep Dawn alive.”

Buffy stand and looks around. “Everybody ready?”

Xander comes up to Buffy’s side and bluntly tells her what he thinks. “I can’t let you do this, Buffy. They’ve got an army. We’ve got one Slayer, a witch who just got her mojo back, a Worf lookalike, a depowered God and…well… me. You’re gonna get killed.”

“Maybe. But at least I’ll get Willow inside.” Buffy’s face is determined. She won’t be told anything different.

Xander sighs and looks her in the face, pleading with her. “Don’t do this.”

“You don’t think I can?”

“This has nothing to do with you.”

“Then let me save Dawn.”

“BUT I ALREADY HAVE!” Xander screams loudly, his patience finally exhausted.

Buffy looks at him, thinking. “Already?” Willow turns to her oldest friend. “What does that mean?”

Xander looks down, but he’s too angry. “When I told you I turned down Severin and Simone… I lied. I told them where the other entrance to the Deeper Well was.”

Buffy expresses surprise with her voice, but her face looks oddly passive. “You what?” She doesn’t look at Xander, who approaches her and gets right next to her face.

“I did it to save your sister.”

Buffy snaps back at him in rage, now shouting in his face in righteous fury! “You did it because you didn’t believe in me. In any of us.”

Willow is taken aback, both by Xander’s confession of betrayal and Buffy’s sheer anger! She pipes up quietly. “I could have gotten the magic,” but the other two don’t hear her.

Buffy looks straight at Xander so that he can see her clearly. “But it turns out you’re the one we shouldn’t have believed in.”

A visibly upset Buffy turns away from him, back to the others as Xander hangs his head in shame behind her. Illyria is anxious now: they’re running out of time. “We must stop the Siphon. Even as a God, I could not do what he is attempting. He will tear the universe apart.”

Xander walks over to Buffy and tries to talk, but she shuts him down instantly.

“Don’t. We had one mission, Xander. Save Dawn.” She turns back at him, anger on her face.

“But thanks to you, we have to save the world. Again.”