THIS SURE AIN'T KANSAS

DANIELLE FRANCES DUCREST

Disclaimers: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, Twentieth Century Fox Productions, and UPN. Angel belongs to Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt, Kuzui Enterprises, Twentieth Century Fox Productions, Sandollar Television, Mutant Enemy, Greenwolf Corporations, and the WB. Any copyright infringements were not intended. This story was written for entertainment and not for profit.

Spoilers: This story contains spoilers for all of Season Five of Buffy and Season Two of Angel, particularly Buffy episodes such as "Crush," "No Place Like Home," and "Blood Ties," and the Angel episodes "The Thin Dead Line" and "Dear Boy."

Timing: Takes place directly after "Crush" on Buffy and "The Thin Dead Line" on Angel.

I apologize to any Buffy crew or cast member if I offend him or her in this story. What the characters say aren't necessarily my opinions, they're just what I think that they would say. I have never been to Warner Brothers Studios or met any of the actors, so I wouldn't advise trying anything that happens in this story at home.

A key to the characters and actors of Buffy and Angel:

Sarah Michelle Gellar is Buffy Summers

James Marsters is Spike

Marc Blucas is Riley Finn

David Boreanaz is Angel

Kristine Sutherland is Joyce Summers

Michelle Trachtenberg is Dawn Summers

Charlie Webber is Ben

Clare Kramer is Glory

Nicholas Brendon is Xander Harris

Alyson Hannigan is Willow

Amber Benson is Tara

Emma Caulfield is Anya

Anthony Stewart Head is Rupert Giles

Juliet Landau is Drusilla

Julie Benz is Darla

Charisma Carpenter is Cordelia Chase

J. August Richards is Charles Gunn

Alexis Denisof is Wesley Wyndham-Pryce

Kevin Weisman is Dreg

is Jinx

Summary: Lara lives in a world where Buffy the Vampire Slayer is her favorite television show. For five seasons, she thinks that Buffy isn't real, but when lightning flashes in a clear sky, Lara is transported to Buffy's dimension, and Buffy Summers is transported to Lara's. Buffy must fight Darla and Drusilla, who have followed her to Lara's dimension, and Lara must help the Slayerettes face the latest evil in Sunnydale. Who is behind all of this? Who sent them there? How will they get home? Lara, the Slayerettes, Buffy, and Lara's friends try to find out before it's too late.

*****

PROLOGUE - AS USUAL

Lara walked into the room from the hall. In her right hand was a bowl of M & M's, and carried in her left hand was a box of twelve cokes. Behind her was Mira, who carried three boxes of pizza.

"We've got food," Lara announced to the people sitting in her living room in front of the television. On the couch were Kristin and Kira. Sitting on the floor on opposite sides of the coffee table were Lyra and Michelle.

After setting the pizzas down on the coffee table, Mira sat down on the couch next to Kristin. Right in front of Mira was her twin sister, Michelle. However, if Lara hadn't known their last name, she wouldn't have guessed they were twins. Mira was almost an exact copy of her mother, who was originally Latin American, while Michelle looked like their father, with blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes.

Lara had dirty-blonde hair, and Kristin had auburn hair like Alyson Hannigan and green eyes. Lyra, Mira, and Kira were a different matter, however. The only thing they had in common as far as looks were concerned was their hair. Kira's great-grandparents had been Japanese, so Kira had almond-shaped eyes and black hair. Lyra had very dark-brown hair that almost matched Kira's and Mira's, and she always had a tan as dark as the latter's, but she had the bluest eyes Lara had ever seen. Nevertheless, Mira, Kira, and Lyra were often teased for their rhyming names and dubbed the 'triplets' of the group.

Several of the people gathered there reached for pieces of pizza, cokes, or M & M's. After Lara got some food, she plopped down on the floor next to Michelle. All of them had graduated from high school only a few months ago, and they were all fans of the show that was about to come on.

"I can't believe Marc Blucas isn't on Buffy anymore," Lyra said as she reached for a piece of pizza and a coke.

Kristin swallowed some pizza and said, "I can. I'm glad to see him leave. Riley was just acting like a big baby."

"Oh, come on, Kristin," Lyra protested. "How could you not like Riley? I mean, he's the best-looking guy they have on the show. After David Boreanaz, of course."

"David? Yeah, his character, Angel, always looks good in black," Michelle agreed.

"Can't disagree with you there, sis," Mira said as she reached for another slice.

"Neither can I," Lara said.

"Quiet," Kira ordered, "it's about to start."

Everyone became silent except for sounds of chewing as they watched the TV, all eyes glued intently on the screen.

The 'tonight's WB presentation is meant for our teen and adult audience' warning filled the screen. When it ended, clips of scenes from previous episodes of Buffy came on.

"Hey, Lara, what did tvguide.com say that this episode would be about?" Mira asked.

Out of all of them, Lara, Michelle, and Lyra were probably the biggest fans of Buffy and Angel. Lara spent most of her free time on the Internet. She visited other Buffy fan pages or worked on her own, or she went to a Buffy posting board she frequented. Michelle didn't go to any posting boards, but she wrote Buffy fan fiction and had her own archive that hosted her fic and other authors' fiction.

Lara liked to go to TV Guide's web site to find out what would be on Buffy for the next two weeks. Michelle didn't do this because she preferred to watch the commercial previews and be surprised, since the commercials revealed fewer details than the TV Guide summaries.

Lara smiled at Mira. "Sorry, Mira, but some of us want to be surprised."

"Could you tell us the name of the episode, at least?" Kristin asked.

"Yeah, it's 'Crush,' and the Angel episode is 'The Thin Dead Line.'"

"Is the Buffy episode about Spike?" Lyra asked, excited and hopeful. "His crush on Buffy is so funny. I don't want him and Buffy to get together, though. I'd rather have him for myself, because he is fine."

"You think half of the Buffy and Angel actors are fine," Mira said.

"Well, they are!"

"Guys, the actual show started several minutes ago," Kira informed them.

"Oh. Oops," Lyra said.

They focused their attention on the screen again. When the credits rolled, Kira asked, "You are recording this, right, Lara?"

"Yep," Lara said. She motioned to the VCR, whose red recording light could be seen in the small computer screen.

"Oh. That's good," Lyra said, relieved. "Can I borrow that tape, Lara? Could I borrow a few others, too? Oh, and a few of your Buffy books."

Lara and Michelle shared a smile before looking over at the others, who were also amused. Lara and Michelle were best friends, and they were both thinking the same thing. While they liked to spend their time doing Buffy-related things on the Internet, Lyra liked to spend her time watching the episodes she liked at least five times every week. Lara also had a larger collection of Buffy novels than she did, so Lyra always borrowed them to read whenever she wasn't near a VCR. Lara was determined to get that girl in front of a computer to write a few transcripts, because Lyra could do that from memory easily.

They watched the rest of the episode and then watched Angel. Lara looked around at each of her friends. She was lucky to have them. She knew from the posting boards that a lot of fans didn't have friends that shared their love for Buffy and Angel.

After Angel was over, they all just hung out for an hour or so, talking about the show or other things. Around ten thirty, Lara's friends began to leave. She got the books and tapes for Lyra before she started showing everyone out the door.

As she headed back to the living room to clean up the mess, she noticed that Lyra left behind the books and tapes. Oh, well, she thought. I'll just bring them to her apartment after work and classes tomorrow.

The living room phone rang. Lara picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lara," Jake, her boyfriend, answered. "How was Buffy?"

"Kind-of funny, actually," Lara said. "Buffy finds out about the crush Spike has on her. It was a good episode, although I didn't really like the part where Spike ties her up."

"But you're planning on watching it again anyway," he teased.

Lara smiled, even though she knew Jake couldn't see it. "Yeah, I am."

"Well, Leon just got here and Kyle's already here. I'll tell them that Lyra and Mira are headed over. I think they're planning on going to the party at the Delta Kappa Phi house. Want to go?"

"No, I'd rather not, sorry. I'm tired. How's the site going?"

"Which one? My X-Files site or my legal-advice-to-use-against-the-Fox-lawyers site?"

"Both."

"Well, the latter's doing great. About a hundred people became members this month."

"That's great. Look, I've gotta get to bed if I want to be fully awake tomorrow at classes and work."

"Okay, honey. Goodnight," Jake said.

"Goodnight."

She took a quick shower before climbing into bed, her thoughts still on the Buffy and Angel episodes that they'd watched that night. The Buffy episode had been about Spike, like Lyra had hoped. Everyone was glad that Spike and Buffy weren't getting together.

She thought about her relationship with Jake. She certainly had more luck with men than Buffy ever has. Maybe she should start a petition to Joss to give Buffy some happiness that doesn't end in heartbreak.

She looked over at the clock. It was eleven thirty. Lara groaned. She had only seven hours to sleep before she had to get up again and go to work, then in the afternoon she had classes at the university.

Thankfully not long afterwards, she drifted off to sleep.

*****

Buffy yawned into her hand, bored out of her mind. She sat on the top of a crypt in Crestfield Cemetery. She hadn't seen a vampire all night, and doubted any would come.

Her mind drifted to the night before, when Spike had chained her and Drusilla up in the sewers beneath his crypt. Whatever soft spots Buffy had for Spike because he was harmless with the chip still in his head vanished that night.

Now it was Valentine's Day. Since she had no date, Buffy went on patrol hoping for a little action so she could cool down some nerves, but nothing had shown up. She jumped down to the ground and started heading toward the cemetery gate. She didn't make three paces, however, before she heard the voice she was getting tired of hearing every microsecond that passed.

"Buffy, wait up!" Spike called from not far behind her.

Buffy paused, then sighed and continued moving.

Spike didn't take the hint, however. He ran up to her side and slowed down to her pace. "Hello, Buffy," he said. "Look, I just want to apologize for the other night. I-"

Buffy stopped and glared at him. "Spike, I told you to skip town, so why are you still here?"

"You can't kick me out of Sunnydale. It's not like you're the Mayor and you're planning on becoming this big, scary demon. You don't own Sunnydale, Buffy, so I'm staying. I'm in your life and there's nothing you can do about it."

His smugness was really pissing her off. "Stay away from my friends, my family, and me. You're not welcome among us anymore."

With that, she kept walking.

Spike kept pace with her. "Oh, come on, Buffy, you know you don't really want me to leave. Just face it, you can't deny that there's something between us."

Buffy stopped again and brought out her stake. "The only thing between you and me is my stake if you don't leave right now."

They stared at each other for several seconds until Spike backed down. "See you around, then."

"No, you won't," Buffy called after him.

He didn't say anything, but headed back the way he'd come.

As soon as he was out of sight, she sighed again and continued to walk home.

*****

Wesley and Gunn looked up when Cordelia entered the hospital room. "Hello, Cordelia," Wesley greeted her from his hospital bed. They'd arrived at the hospital only a few hours ago after a zombie police officer shot Wesley. Thankfully, they'd gotten him to the hospital in time and he would be all right.

Cordelia smiled at him and handed a cup of coffee to Gunn. Then she walked over to Wesley and tousled his hair before sitting down in a chair. She glanced back out the window. Instantly, her smile disappeared and she sighed heavily.

"What's wrong?" Gunn asked.

"That SOB…he only cares if we almost die. Then he decides to make an appearance after, like, forever."

"Angel? He was here?" Wesley asked as he and Gunn looked out the window into the hospital corridor. They didn't see the vampire anywhere.

"Yeah, I sent him away," Cordelia said.

"Good," Gunn said. "I don't think I could stand being around that guy anymore."

"Me, neither," Cordelia agreed.

*****

Angel walked out of the hospital and stepped onto the sidewalk. He looked back up at the third floor and sighed. He knew they didn't like what he was doing, but he knew that Wolfram and Hart had to be stopped. He wished they did understand, so that he'd have their support. Maybe after he killed Darla and Drusilla and put Wolfram and Hart out of commission he'd ask for their forgiveness.

The breeze shifted, bringing smells from farther down the street to his nose. One of those smells, however, was of a vampire.

Angel sniffed and determined that it was coming from the two figures walking out of the train station. While the door was open, the wind picked up the smell of dead bodies from inside.

Angel walked toward the two figures. Their backs were to him, and it was too dark to see them very well, so he wasn't sure who they were.

The figures sensed him and turned around. A car passed, and its headlights lit up their faces for a few seconds, but those seconds were enough.

It was Drusilla and Darla.

"Angel," Drusilla said, slightly afraid. Neither of the female vampires had forgotten what he'd done the last time they saw each other - he set them on fire. Then she smiled and looked up at the hospital building. "The dark man just went to see the sick and dying," she cooed insanely. "To see his friends, up there amongst people who make screams when you ruin their only chances of survival. The sound is so lovely. Would you care to dance, my Angel?"

"Quiet, Dru," Darla told the vampiress sharply. "Hello, Angel."

Angel took out a stake but didn't say anything.

Dru laughed. "Angelus wants to play. Can we, grandmother?"

Darla smiled. "That sounds great."

"What were you doing in the train station?" Angel asked sternly.

Drusilla wagged her finger. "Naughty, naughty. It's not nice to speak that way."

Darla rolled her eyes. She was about to tell Dru to shut up again when she heard thunder. The sound was followed by the noise of something striking against a building across the street.

All three vampires turned to look as the building's front wall began to crumble. Cars swerved to avoid the falling debris, and pedestrians screamed and ran out of their way.

"I smell fear," Drusilla said, "but I feel magic all around, come to sweep us away." As if to punctuate her words, another bolt of lightning like the one that hit the building lit the sky.

It was possible to tell how many miles away that a lightning bolt was by counting how many seconds came between the lightning and the thunder. However, the thunder accompanied this lightning bolt at the same time, which meant the lightning was just as close as the one that hit the building.

Angel felt the charged air and knew Dru was right. He knew this was not ordinary lightning.

"Angel? Grandmother?" Dru asked, her voice sounding frightened. Angel turned back toward his adversaries. Darla had the same look on her face, and both were staring at themselves.

Angel could see what they were staring at. Both female vampires were fading. He could see through Darla's arms and Drusilla's legs. It was like they were being erased.

Suddenly, a light surrounded both vampires. They let out screams before the light completely surrounded them, cutting them off.

When the light faded, Angel looked back at the spot. Darla and Drusilla were gone.

*****

Buffy walked out of the graveyard and started to walk to the Bronze. A flash of light out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, however. She whirled toward the sight, ready for anything.

She turned in time to see a tree being split apart by a bolt of lightning. Half of the tree began to fall toward the street. Unfortunately, a woman walking her dog happened to be in its way.

"Shit," Buffy said before she raced across the street.

In shock, the woman stared up at the approaching tree trunk while her dog barked at it. At the same time it tugged on its leash, trying to coax the woman to move, but the woman was frozen.

Buffy pushed the woman aside, knocking them both to the ground and out of the tree's path. The dog started to yip as he barely got out of their way and the tree's way.

The tree trunk colliding with the ground behind them. It was so close that Buffy could feel a rush of air between it and her legs.

They began to sit up. "Are you all right?" Buffy asked.

The woman began to calm down. "Yes," she said. "Yes, thank you-" She looked at Buffy and stared again.

Confused, Buffy looked down at her self. She held her hands up and almost fell back against the trunk. She could literally see through her hands.

"What the hell?" she asked. Then a light began to surround her. The dog started barking again and the woman began to scream.

Buffy stared at the light as it engulfed her. Then everything went black.

*****

Lara glanced at her watch when she stopped at a red light. She'd just gotten out of work and had only two hours to prepare for the Valentine's Day dinner Kyle was treating her to. Before she could go home, however, she had to stop at Lyra's and Kristin's apartment to drop off the videos. Lyra was probably getting ready for her date with Leon and Kristin was probably getting ready for her date with whoever she'd managed to hook up with that evening. Lara knew Lyra would probably want the videos for watching with Leon later. Well, they'd watch it until they started doing more private things, that is.

She saw lightning out of the corner of her eye. Lara turned and saw it flash across the sky. It was followed a few seconds later by thunder. That's weird, she thought. How can there be lightning and thunder when there are no rain clouds?

It was in the middle of sunset, and the lightning looked out of place against the pink and orange hues the sun painted on the clouds.

The car behind her honked, and Lara realized the light was green. She turned her car onto another street. Only one or two streets away was the apartment complex Lyra and Kristin lived in.

Suddenly, another bolt of lightning struck at the same time the thunder split the air. The lightning hit a tree in a yard on the side of the road. The tree split and slammed onto the road in front of her.

Lara swerved her car to avoid colliding with the massive trunk.

As she did, a light surrounded the car. Lara was reminded of all those alien abductions that she always saw when she watched The X-Files with Kyle. "What the hell?" she asked.

Then the light surrounded her.

*****

PART ONE - LIGHTNING REFLEXES

The light blinded her for a minute, then it disappeared altogether.

At first, Lara though she was still experiencing after-effects of seeing that bright light and that her vision was still fuzzy, but then she realized that in the world outside her car it was night.

She stepped out of the car and looked at the sky. It was completely dark, at least a few hours later than it had been a few moments ago. She glanced at her watch, but it said 5:03 PM. Must be broken, she thought.

Another lightning bolt flashed across the sky, but none followed, the storm seeming to come to an end.

Lara frowned. Did I pass out? She remembered the larger amount of traffic going down the highway before the lightning struck, and doubted if they would all be able to put on their breaks in time before they smashed into her car, so she should be dead by now.

She glanced around. The street she was on was much smaller than the state highway she'd just been on. The buildings were different, too, and the fallen tree was nowhere to be seen. Where the hell am I? she thought, beginning to panic a little.

She looked at one of the buildings. It's sign read "Sunnydale Tourist Shop."

"Sunnydale?" she asked out loud. Shouldn't it be Sunnyvale, the actual city, not Sunnydale, the town on top of the Hellmouth in Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Assuming, of course, that she wasn't in Los Angeles anymore.

"Hello there, girl," someone said from the shadows.

Lara whirled in that direction and saw a pair of glowing eyes before their owner emerged. Several others stepped out of the shadows and surrounded her. Each one wore the visage of a vampire from Buffy.

Oh, come on, she thought. Not only was she about to get mugged, but it had also been set up to look like she was in a fictional town named Sunnydale and was about to be drained by vampires.

Well, disguised as vampires or not, she did not want to be mugged that day, thank you very much. All of the guys were out of arms reach. Lara jumped into her car, turned the car on, and without even bothering with closing the door, hightailed it out of there. As soon as she was moving, she slammed the door shut.

And into a hand. It yanked back and the owner screamed in pain. Lara realized he was on the roof. These guys are nuts, she thought.

Well, if they wanted to play it that way, she'd join in. She slammed on the brakes, coming to a sudden, jolting stop.

The man holding onto her car rolled off and landed on the road.

Lara looked out of her side mirror and saw him get up. She let out a sigh of relief. Mugger or not, she did not want to kill him.

She realized that they were trying to ambush her car again. She pressed on the gas and drove away before they could even get close.

*****

Leon stepped out of his room into the living room/kitchen. Jake sat on the couch. Both were dressed in formal clothes that would get them into dress-code restaurants.

Leon straightened the tie he was wearing on his date with Lyra. "Where are you going to take Lara? I'm treating Lyra to dinner, then we're going to go to her house to watch Buffy and Angel. That is, if Lara managed to bring the videos over to Lyra's and Kristin's apartment. Then after that, well…" He let the rest of that sentence trail off, knowing it was enough to give anyone a clue. "Do you think my tie's tied correct?" Leon asked, turning to look in the mirror.

"It's fine," Jake said without looking up. He was staring at something he held between his fingers.

Hearing his roommate's distracted tone, Leon turned to look at Jake. He noticed the little band of metal Jake held. "What is it?" he asked, walking over.

Jake looked up at him then back down at the ring. "Do you think it's too soon? I mean, should I wait until her birthday, or maybe next Valentine's Day?"

Leon smiled. "It's not too soon at all. I know she'll say yes. Both of you have got it bad."

Jake smiled uncertainly before looking back down at the ring. Leon was right about the last part. Jake had been in love with Lara ever since they met in their freshman year of high school. It had taken almost two years before Jake had worked up the nerve to ask Lara out, but before he got the chance to, she did it for him. Her boldness had made him fall even more in love with her, and he'd been extremely pleased when she told him she had the same feelings for him. He wasn't sure if Lara wanted to get married, however. It was a subject they'd rarely talked about, and Jake was afraid she was the kind of person who wanted to stay single.

He sighed, stood up, and placed the ring in a box before slipping it into his pocket. "I guess I'll just have to find out from her, won't I?"

Leon gave him an encouraging smile. "Come on. We'd better pick up our dates before they're angry with us for being late. If we are late, Lara may not marry you at all."

Jake gave him a look. "Ha, ha."

They walked outside, down the second-story balcony stairs and into the fenced-off parking area for their apartment building. Their cars were right next to each other, so both walked in the same direction.

Leon and Jake were unlocking their cars when Leon said, "Good luck."

Jake looked over at him and smiled a little. "Thanks."

Suddenly, lightning struck across the sky, lighting it up.

"There's a storm?" Leon said, worried. "Great. There goes some of my plans for the evening. The table I reserved at the restaurant is outdoors."

Jake frowned up at the sky. "The news didn't mention a storm," he commented.

Suddenly, they heard screams coming from the middle of the parking lot. Jake and Leon turned toward the sounds and walked forward until they were standing next to each other behind Leon's car. Neither of them dared to get closer, because what they could see already shocked them enough.

They saw two women standing apart from the parked cars. A light that got dimmer as the two men watched surrounded both of the women. When the light disappeared, both women stopped screaming and looked around, puzzled.

"Where the hell are we?" the blonde woman asked.

The other was shaking a little. "The shadows, they whisper to me. They say we don't belong. They don't want us to be here." A smiled crossed her face. "Let's make them scream, grandmother. Then they wouldn't be so cruel."

Leon frowned. "They sound familiar."

Jake looked at him, surprised. "You know people that can just appear like that? 'Cause as far as I knew, that sort of thing only happens on Star Trek or on the Tomorrow People."

The blonde woman spotted Leon and Jake and smiled cruelly. Both men took a step back, trying to get as far away as possible from that evil expression.

Leon gasped. "I do know her, and the other person. They're Juliet Landau and Julie Benz. They play Darla and Drusilla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel!"

"They do?" Jake asked. "How'd they get here, then?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask them?" Leon asked him in exasperation.

"They know about us, grandmother," the brown-haired woman, whom Leon thought was Juliet Landau, said. "Although our roles may be different in this world."

"Why don't we find out?" Julie Benz asked.

They advanced on Jake and Leon. Their features suddenly changed, replaced by the vampire visage commonly seen on Angel.

"This is not good," Leon stated. Jake, who was just as confused, shocked, and scared as Leon was, could only stare at the advancing women.

"Uh, Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we get out of here?"

"Okay."

Leon turned and ran toward his car door, and Jake raced for the passenger seat. Before Jake could go two feet, however, he felt a hand hit his back and push.

Jake fell on to the ground and rolled over. Looking up, he found himself staring directly up at the vampire visage of Benz, or Darla, or whoever she was. He heard a body collide with the other side of the car, and knew the other woman had pushed Leon against the car.

Jake gazed up at Darla. She smiled hungrily at him.

"Hey! Leave them alone!"

The voice came from behind him, but although the owner had come to help them, it didn't reassure him. He didn't watch Buffy, but he'd recognize Sarah Michelle Gellar's voice anywhere.

What the hell is going on? he wondered

"Well, if it isn't the Slayer," Darla said with disgust.

Jake hastily got to his feet and took a few steps back. Standing about the same place where Darla and Drusilla had just appeared was Sarah Gellar, although he was starting to suspect that these weren't the actors he'd heard about. If they were, there would be cameras everywhere, and Darla and Drusilla would have to put on makeup just to have those vampire visages.

That suspicion was confirmed when Buffy raised her stake. "Hello, Darla. Long time no see."

*****

Ben got up from the floor of his sister's apartment. They'd just switched places, so he was still wearing what she wore last: a red and gold dress. Ben sighed. Did his sister have to wear red dresses all the time?

After he changed into some pants and a shirt, lightning flashed outside. Ben staggered to his knees and stayed there. Everytime another lightning bolt struck outside the window, he would shiver uncontrollably.

Thankfully, the storm lasted only a few minutes. Ben stood up from the floor, relieved. He hadn't felt that way in a long time. That was no ordinary lightning. It was filled with negative magic that made any God or relative to a God want to curl up into a ball until it was over.

Whoever had cast the spell to make the lightning bolts had used powerful magic, and he was willing to bet his sister, Glory, was behind it.

*****

PART TWO - NEW WORLDS

Lara stared at the teen nightclub's sign only a few yards away from her car. This has got to be some big joke, she thought. Someone with money set up the town, or something. She started to suspect that wasn't it, but she still tried to deny it. After all, she may be the fan of a supernatural show but her everyday life was based in science.

There's only one way to find out if this is real or not, she decided.

Lara stepped out of her car and walked toward the entrance to the Bronze. If they were in there, she'd know then if she had been the first person to travel to an alternate universe from her world.

Inside the Bronze, Xander, Willow, Tara, and Anya sat at a table near the stage. The band on the stage had been performing for a week, and it drew a crowd. The four of them could care less about the band at that moment, because they were scanning the crowd for Buffy. Willow tried to see the door, but with a crowd this big, it was hard to pick anyone out.

"Where is she?" she asked for the tenth time. Buffy should have shown up by now.

"Yeah, I'm wondering that myself," Xander said.

He tried to see the door again. Suddenly, it opened, letting in light from street lamps outside. Xander hoped it was Buffy, because he was really worried for her, and was slightly disappointed when he saw it was another girl.

He found he couldn't take his eyes off of her, however. There was something different about her. Maybe it was because she stared at everything in the Bronze with wide eyes. She must be visiting Sunnydale, Xander decided. He didn't really think that was the wisest choice she could have made, though.

"Xander. Xander!" Anya yelled impatiently.

"Huh?" Xander said, reverting his attention back to his girlfriend.

"Why are you staring at that girl? Don't you like me anymore?" Anya asked, anger and hurt in her expression.

"Of course I like you, sweetie," Xander said, pulling her close. Reassured, Anya smiled.

"Hey, guys, that girl is coming over here," Tara said.

Xander and Anya looked over and saw that Tara was right. The girl who seemed to be incredulous of everything in the Bronze had spotted them, and was making her way through the crowd to their table.

"I wonder what she wants," Willow said.

"You think she knows where Buffy is?" Xander asked, suspicious.

"She doesn't look like a vampire," Tara observed.

"She certainly isn't acting like one," Xander said. Vampires were usually confident, and she didn't look that way at all.

Anya looked from Xander to the approaching girl and crossed her arms.

The girl reached their table and stopped. She cleared her throat and said, "Hi. I'm new here. Can anyone point me to where I can buy an expresso?"

Xander cleared his throat and the girl looked at him. He could have sworn that he saw recognition there, although it could have just been the lighting. "Um, it's over there." He pointed to the counter.

The girl smiled at him. "Thanks," she said before walking over to the counter.

As soon as Lara reached the counter, she sat down on one of the stools and burried her face in her hands. She somehow got transported to an alternate universe, where Buffy Summers, her friends, vampires, and demons are real, and the first thing she could think of to say was where she could get some coffee. Well, at least one good thing had come out of that. She did find the counter, after all, and she felt like ordering something heavier than an expresso.

She paused in the middle of calling the bartender. She couldn't get drunk now. She had to figure out how the hell any of this could possibly be happening, and how she was going to get home. To do that, she should talk to Giles and the others. To do that, she needed to work up the courage, and stop repeating to herself a mantra of four words that had been going through her head for a while now: this is not real, this is not real, this is not real…

*****

Buffy launched herself onto the top of the car. Seemingly in the same swift motion, she kicked Drusilla in the face, knocking the vampire away from Leon.

Darla abandoned Jake and opted to jump onto the hood of the car instead. She threw a roundhouse punch at Buffy, but the Slayer ducked.

Jake saw Leon on the other side of the car. "Leon, let's move!"

Leon said, "Yeah."

The two started to run, but Drusilla caught Leon by the back of his collar. "Not so fast, little boy," she said.

Jake came around the car and saw the bag of supplies Buffy had dropped on the ground. He dug through it quickly and took out a cross. Hoping it would work, he ran over to Leon and stuck the cross in Drusilla's face.

Drusilla growled, let go of Leon, and took a few steps back. Jake couldn't believe it. She was a real vampire. Leon couldn't believe it had worked either.

On top of the car, they heard Buffy say, "Run!"

Startled out of their reverie, the two took off. They ran to the other end of the parking lot, where they stopped to watch. Neither of them wanted to stop watching.

When the two guys ran off, Buffy punched Darla in the stomach, causing the vampire to double over, and used the opportunity to kick Drusilla in the face. Distracted by the two departing young men, Drusilla didn’t see it coming until it was too late to stop from falling to the ground. Drusilla then turned to Buffy and jumped onto the car to help Darla.

Great, Buffy thought as she ducked another punch from Darla and another one from Drusilla. She almost wished the two guys would come back to provide a distraction. Why did that law firm have to bring Darla back anyway? She'd heard about that from Cordelia earlier that year, about the same time Buffy found out about Dawn's true origins. Now, not only did she have to deal with Angel's sire and childe, but she had to figure out how she was going to get home, and if she didn't kill these two, she had to figure out how she would get these two to come with her. Buffy didn't know if there were vampires in this reality, but she wasn't about to give them two more.

Darla threw another punch at her. Buffy was unable to prevent it, and it knocked her down. She immediately kicked upwards, catching both vampires in the face, then snap-kicked back onto her feet.

Another lightning bolt flashed across the sky. The three women ignored it and kept fighting. In the same moment that Buffy got back on her feet, Darla rushed her, pushing both of them to the ground. Buffy pushed Darla off of her forcefully, sending the blonde vampire flying backwards and into the apartment building wall.

Darla slid to the ground and got up unsteadily. Blood ran from her nose and her mouth, but she snarled and tried to jump back onto the car hood, which was at least eight feet away…

…and succeeded in hopping less than a foot.

Buffy, Drusilla, and Darla stared. All three knew that a vampire could jump an unheard of distance easily. So could the Slayer.

Buffy looked up at the sky when another lightning bolt flashed across the sky. It was further away now, indicating the storm had ended in this region. Buffy looked back at the vampires. It's this world, she decided. It's effecting their vampiric powers. She wondered if it would effect her the same way.

Suddenly, crossbow bolts flew past her. One hit Drusilla in the shoulder because she twisted just in time to avoid getting stabbed in the heart, and the other missed Darla's head by less than an inch.

Buffy looked and saw the two men she'd saved. They'd come back to help, although it was a little late.

More bolts flew, and the two vampires ran out of the parking lot.

Buffy considered going after them, but decided not to. This place was unfamiliar to her, and she could get lost. She needed answers, too. The two guys were taking this all pretty well, so they were as good as anyone to ask.

She turned and jumped easily off the top of the car. My powers aren't gone yet, she observed, relieved. She'd been freaked enough when the Watchers had done that to her. Maybe it only worked on vampires. That would be a very big help while she was here.

"Um," one of the guys said. Buffy looked at them. "Are you Sarah Gellar or Buffy Summers?"

"Who's Sarah Gellar? And how do you know my name?"

The two guys just looked at each other. Buffy wondered what kind of world this was. "Well?" she asked.

"We'd better go to Lyra's and Kristin's," one of the guys, who had blonde hair, decided. "She'd be a big help."

"Yeah, and we'd better call Lara while we're there," the red-head said. "In case she starts to wonder where I am. Besides, I think she'd want to know about this, too. So would the rest of their friends."

"Know about what?" Buffy was still confused. "And how come you guys aren't even asking about the vampires?"

"Darla and Drusilla?" the redhead asked. "We know them the same way we know you."

She was beginning to lose her patience. "How?"

"Well," the blonde said, "you just happen to be the star of a TV show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Buffy stared at them. That bit of news made her mind work overtime. A million questions came to mind, but in the end the only word she could form was, "Huh?"

*****

PART THREE - SMALL TALK

Dreg peered into Glory's room. Seeing that it was empty, he picked up the dress Ben had dropped on the floor. Then he began to tidy things up a bit.

Jinx wandered into the room just as cautiously. Dreg ordered, "Find a suitable mortal for her Excellency's next meal."

"Yes, Dreg," Jinx answered before leaving the room.

Another of their kind entered. "Dreg, I have news concerning the transfer spell."

"Yes?" Dreg asked, slightly impatiently.

"It worked magnificently. Buffy is now in an alternate universe, and two vampires were taken there as well to keep her busy. Only a powerless mortal girl has been brought here. There is no way either girl will switch places again unless Glory wishes it."

"Good," Dreg said, smiling as he always did. "Continue your search for the Key. It should be easier to find now that the Slayer cannot protect it."

"Yes, sir." The demon left the room.

Dreg carried the dress over to the small dressing room connected to the bedroom. He picked up a hanger and put the dress on it when an arm reached around and grabbed him by the neck.

"Hello, Dreg," he heard Ben say. Dreg felt instant fear, although he tried to calm down. If Ben turned him around, he did not want to give the god satisfaction of seeing fear on Dreg's face. If he did, his future job as a courier between Ben and Glory would be fruitless, and Glory would have no more use for him.

"My lordship sounds displeased," Dreg said. "Perhaps there is something I may offer him?"

The razor-sharp blade of a knife pressed against his neck. "Yes, there is. Tell me how to reverse the transfer spell."

*****

After attempting to talk to Buffy's friends and failing, Lara decided to try a different front. She recalled from her many conversations with Lyra what Giles' address was. Because she always watched every episode five times and had been to a few Buffy conventions, Lyra had managed to find out little facts like that. The problem was, Lara didn’t know where in the town of Sunnydale the street was, so it wasn't a very good option to have. She'd stop the car and buy a map if only she knew where to find a map. Asking for directions was out of the question, since most of the town seemed to be indoors. The only people still out at the moment would be the teenagers at the Bronze, people walking their dogs in the park, or the homeless. She recalled that Weatherly Park was a normal place to find vampires. Well, that and the graveyards. Lara figured it would be best if she avoided going to those places, or any other place if her run-in with those vampires earlier was any indication. This town is definitely dangerous. Why are people so oblivious to it?

She decided to find downtown and look for the Magic Box. Hopefully, Giles would still be there. If not, she'd at least know where to look the next morning.

She glanced at her watch as she sped towards the center of town. Her watch, as it turned out, was not broken. It was simply displaying the current time in her world. Over there, it was now eight thirty. She'd been in a television show for three hours now. No, not a television show. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is real here. But if so, where was the Slayer? Either she was out on patrol, or they switched places. Lara hoped it was the former, but anything was possible in this town.

She glanced at the storefronts as she drove by. She couldn't find it on this street. She turned the corner. At the end of this street, she found it. It was a blue building with a sign that said "Magic Box," just like in the TV show. Lara breathed in relief, and then saw the sign on the store right next door. It read 'A Sunnydale World: The Place to go for local and regional maps and for vacation planning.'

"Well, that's just convenient," she muttered as she parked the car and got out. Her eyes traveled back to the magic shop. Although the 'closed' sign was out, there was a light on inside. She said a quick prayer and walked up to the door. Hopefully, she wouldn't become a babbling idiot and Giles would listen to her.

She went to the door and knocked.

A few minutes later, she saw a dark shape behind the door. Giles, in his English accent, called out, "We're closed. Please come back tomorrow."

"Giles!" Lara called. Realizing that may be a bit too personal, she added hastily, "Mr. Giles! I need to talk to you. It's about something supernatural. Sort of like that incident with vamp Willow."

There was a pause, then a lock turned and the door opened. Rupert Giles leaned out. "Who are you and how much do you know?" he asked, his face set in an emotionless mask.

"Please, Mr. Giles," Lara said, "I'll explain it all if I could I come in?"

Giles pushed the door open even more and Lara stepped in. She looked around. The actually shop looked different than it did on a TV screen. It still had blue-painted walls, a wide staircase in the middle of the floor leading to the second level, and everything else she'd seen before on screen. It just looked less like a TV set and more like an actual store now.

"So," Giles began, gentler now. He must have notice how nervous she looked. "What is it that you want? And may I ask who you are?"

Lara turned back to him and held out her hand. "Lara McIntyre."

Giles shook it and seemed relieved. He must realize my body's warm, meaning I'm not a vampire. Although he's probably not impressed by the coat of sweat on my palm.

"Rupert-"

"-Giles. Yes, I know."

Giles looked at her curiously. "So, Ms. McIntyre," he said, indicating the table. They sat down. "What brings you here? And what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

"What brings me here?" Lara repeated. "I'm not sure, really. Because I'm not from this world."

She told him everything that had happened that afternoon, or evening, or whatever time it was. Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them several times in those few minutes. Used to seeing it every Tuesday night in her living room, it relieved Lara a little to see the habit again here.

"So you know me in that world?"

"Not exactly," Lara said, uncertain if she should tell him everything. She decided she'd better tell him some of it and continued, "But I know all about you. I also know all about Buffy being the Slayer, and Dawn being the Key, and Tara and Willow being a couple and witches, and Xander being a carpenter, and Anya being an ex-demon, although I've never met any of you personally in my world."

"And how could that be?" Giles asked, a little wide-eyed and excited. Lara remember that the last time he'd encountered someone from an alternate universe was vamp Willow in 'Doppelgangland,' which was too years ago, so it was no wonder that he would be excited by it now.

"Well…" Lara said, still uncertain if she should tell him. Finally she gave in and said, "You're one of the main characters-

*****

" -on a TV show named Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Leon repeated. He, Buffy, and Jake were in the latter's car, driving toward Lyra's and Kristin's apartment complex. Jake had been unsuccessful in reaching Lara, and hoped to be able to reach her at their destination. He hoped she hadn't decided to drive herself to the restaurant and wait there for him, because even though he was concerned for her, he didn't want to let Buffy out of his sight. He felt that if he did, he'd be able to convince himself it was all a dream, so he clung to the only evidence he had. Well, not the only evidence. He could always look under Leon's car's hood again and see all the pressure the vampires had put on the engine. Or he could just look at the hood or the top of the car and see the dents. That was why they weren't in Leon's car.

In the back seat, Leon explained to Buffy for the tenth time, "You're played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Spike is played by a human actor. He eats normal food and can go out in the sunlight without any special rings, Oracles who turn back time, or Mohra Demons. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the show you star, is on every week. This last Tuesday's episode was when Dawn told you that Spike had a crush on you and then, later on in the episode, we saw Spike tie you and Dru up."

"How do you know all that?" Jake asked him. "You haven't even seen it."

"Lyra told me."

"And you thought that was entertainment?" Buffy said, the disbelief and disgust in her voice. "My life gives you thrills?"

Both Leon and Jake winced. Jake answered, "We didn't know it was real. We thought it was fake, that no one died because they were really actors who got paid to do that stuff and went on to play other roles on other shows afterwards. That was why we were entertained. Now we know that a world exists where Slayers and all the other things are real and it's starting to get scary."

They turned onto a highway and saw several police cars and other trucks parked everywhere. Two officers were telling traffic to turn around.

"What's going on?" Buffy wondered.

"It looks like a tree fell on the road," Leon answered. A few people were chopping the tree into several pieces, because it was too long to drag off the road intact. A car with a smashed-in hood sat not far away. Part of the tree still rested on top of the car's hood. An ambulance was nearby. Its medics were treating the survivors of the car wreck, but they didn't look like they were injured badly.

There were a few officers talking to pedestrians. From the looks of it, the pedestrians were recalling an outlandish story.

"Pull over," Buffy said. "This looks bad."

"Why?" Leon asked. "The tree was probably hit by lightning. We should just go down a different street."

"Just trust me," she insisted. "There's something about all this that is making my spidey-sense tingle." She considered her words and added, "Um, you have Spiderman in this world, right?"

"Right." Leon smiled. "The comic exists here."

Jake parked the car on the curb and they got out. They approached one of the witnesses an officer had just left. "Excuse me," Buffy asked, "but we're curious as to what happened. Could you tell us?"

"What's the use," the woman replied. "The cops already think I'm crazy. I'm already bound for a mental institution. Why feed the fire even more?"

"We won't judge you," Jake said honestly. Now that an entire world had opened up to him, he doubted there was very little he wouldn't believe. Well, he may be an X-Files fan, but he didn't really believe in aliens. He froze. Didn't Lara mention an alien appearing in a Buffy episode?

"Yeah," Leon agreed. "Just tell us what happened, please."

"All right," the woman said, resigned. "But you'll think I'm a raving lunatic when I'm done. I was out walking when that lightning storm started. Then, all of a sudden a bolt hit that tree over there. A few cars managed to swerve around it but that car over there didn't. Then one of the cars that had swerved out of its way began to glow. The light covered the entire car before it and the driver just disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Leon questioned.

"I told you that you'd think I was crazy."

"Did you see what car it was, or did you recognize the driver?" Buffy asked.

"I didn't recognize the driver, but she was about the same age as all of you, and she had brown hair and eyes." She told them the type of car it had been and then left them.

"That's the kind of car that Lara has," Jake stated, worried.

"You think it was her?" Leon asked.

"I hope not."

"The light show was what happened to me," Buffy added thoughtfully. She looked up at Jake and smiled reassuringly at him. "If that was Lara, she can find Giles and then she'll be safe."

Jake looked back at the wrecked car as the tree was removed from the hood and a tow truck was attached to the car. Buffy's comment did not reassure him as much as he would have liked.

*****

PART FOUR - WORKING TOGETHER

Spike walked back to his crypt, saddened but determined to win Buffy's heart, no matter what it took. He didn't understand why she wouldn't except the fact that he loved her.

Suddenly, a waft of something horrible blew by his noise. Demon breath. Spike waved the air in front of his face. "Yuck. Hasn't anyone heard of breath mints?"

He turned to the smell and saw a demon appear from the bushes. She looked very human, with blonde hair and a green cotton shirt only covering her breasts and short leather skirt barely covering her underwear. The stench wasn't coming from her, but from the giant and ugly demon behind and to the left of her. "You, vampire," the woman said. "We're looking for a Buffy Summers. Do you know her?"

"What's it to you?" Spike asked.

"Well, if you don't cooperate, Johnny here will tie you to a cross and pour holy water on you every two hours. But if you do, I'm willing to give you lots of human blood."

"One thing," Spike said, "Why are you looking for her? Going to give her a gruesome death, because a lot of demons and mortals come here to do that and end up being the garbage."

"I don't want her," the woman answered. "I want the Key."

*****

Lara wandered around the Magic Box, looking at and sometimes touching some of the objects on display. It was certainly different than seeing it on a TV screen. For one thing, she hadn't known that Giles kept a bowl of incense burning at all hours. She also hadn't known that the chairs around the table weren't too comfortable. She hadn't wondered into the back room yet, so she didn't know what differences she'd find there. Lara doubted if she would go back there. Giles kept glancing at her after he wrote every few lines in his journal. She doubted he wanted to let her out of his sight.

She glanced at her watch. She'd reset it to the time zone in this California. It turned out that this world was five hours ahead of hers. It was around eleven thirty here, while it was only six thirty in her world. Jake could be driving to my house to take me out on our Valentine's Day date, she thought, worried. She hoped, when he found her house was empty, that he wouldn't think she didn't love him anymore. Although it would be very hard to explain that she'd been transported into a world where the Hellmouth is real. Even now, Lara was still having trouble excepting it. So was Giles, if she could tell be his glances. He couldn’t believe that an American played him anymore than she was trying to accept the fact that this was not a dream. At least she knew she was doing better than she had earlier that evening.

She looked at her watch again. "Buffy and the others promised to come by here after they had a pleasant enough time at the Bronze," Giles had said around eleven. "They will be here shortly, I'm sure."

True to his words, the door opened a few minutes later. In walked Xander, Anya, Willow, and Tara, but there was no sign of Buffy, just like earlier.

"Hey, Giles," Willow said.

Xander looked at Lara. "We saw you at the Bronze. What are you doing here?"

"Where's Buffy?" Giles asked them.

"She didn't show up," Tara answered. They seemed worried with Lara included.

"When did you last see her?" Lara asked. Everyone looked at her and then at Giles, not sure if they should answer her question.

"What is she doing here?" Xander asked again.

"It's an interesting story, actually," Giles said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them for the tenth time in the past hour. He motioned to the table with his glasses. "If you'll have a seat?"

Anya, Tara, Willow, and Xander sat down, and Lara and Giles joined them. "Well, then," Giles said, "Um, Lara? Would you care to explain?"

Lara cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "Well, um…I'm not from this world."

Xander, Willow, and Tara stared at her. Anya, having made thousands of universes through the power of the wish, wasn't impressed. "What?" Xander asked.

"I'm from a different world," she rephrased. "I don't know any of you personally over there, but I know all about you."

"How?" Anya asked, now seeming intrigued.

"Well, in my world, you're…um, you're all characters from a TV show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Everyone looked stunned except for Anya, who simply said, "Oh, that universe."

*****

Spike glared at the woman sitting on his couch. Her demon pet was standing in a corner on guard.

They had decided to use his crypt as a place to crash. He'd already given them the Magic Box's address, so now he wanted to leave. Besides, Passions was about to come on. The annoying woman was sitting in his chair, flipping through his TV's channels. He'd tried to take the remote away from her, but a confrontation with her pet had stopped that attempt.

She stopped flipping through channels. "Haven't you got anything good on this piece of junk?"

Spike tried to keep his cool, but it was getting more difficult every second. "Shouldn't you be out looking for the Key?" he asked. They could be on the moon as far as Spike cared, just as long as they were away. He had no doubt that Buffy would kick their asses, anyway, and right now he was looking forward to it.

The woman glanced and titled her head, seeming to hear something no one else could. "You're right." She stood up. She nodded at the demon, who then came forward and headed toward the door. "There's someone I want to talk to first, but afterwards I'll go get the Key." She tossed the remote to Spike, who caught it on reflex. "By the way, you should get some new décor. This place will not attract any of your dates. If you happen to have any dates, that is. And if you find out who the Key is, be sure to let us know."

They left, slamming the door behind them. Spike threw the remote onto the chair. After a few minutes, he grabbed his coat and headed out, too. He really wanted to see them get creamed.

*****

PART FIVE - EXPLANATIONS

"Who plays me?" Xander asked. He really wanted to know. He hoped whoever it was didn't have the same name in real life.

"His name's Nicholas Brendon," Lara answered. She seemed more relaxed than she'd appeared in the Bronze. Xander could understand why. If he was transported to the world of The Matrix or some other movie he'd be really freaked, too, but after spending an hour in their company who wouldn't relax? Well, vampires and demons wouldn't, but Lara wasn't either of those.

"What about me? Who plays me?" Anya asked. "She'd better be pretty. Does she go out with Nick?"

"Um, I don't know if they're going out," Lara answered, "but you're played by Emma Caulfield."

Lara then pointed to everyone and said a name. "Alyson Hannigan, Amber Benson, and Anthony Stewart Head," she said, starting on Willow and ending on Giles, with Tara in-between.

"Head? His name is Head?" Willow asked, pointing at Giles.

"There's nothing wrong with the name Head," Giles said defensively. "It's a perfectly good English name."

"Amber's a good name," Tara said. "What about Spike, Dawn, Buffy, or Joyce?"

"Forget about Spike," Willow said. "He's nothing but a bad…vampire person."

Lara winced. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about what happened."

"What happened?" Giles asked.

Lara shifted in her seat again. "What Spike did to Buffy."

"Forget about Spike," Willow repeated. "Let's just not say his name for the rest of the evening, okay?"

Everyone agreed, and Lara said Joyce's, Buffy's, and Dawn's actresses' names. Thinking about Joyce, Lara remembered what would take place in future episodes, such as 'The Body.' Should I tell them? She wasn't sure if that was a good idea. After all, she had no idea what she would be screwing up if she told too much about the future. But was that really up to her? From the looks of it, she'd have plenty of time to decide.

They adapted to the idea of a world where their lives were a TV show a little easier than Lara would have expected anyone. She really shouldn't be surprised; she'd seen them all brush off apocalypses like they were nothing.

The phone rang. Giles got up to answer it readily. He had too many jokes about Anthony Head to want to be anywhere near the others at the moment. Lara half-listened to the conversation while the others continued to bombard her with numerous questions.

"Hello, Magic Box," he said. "Joyce? Have you seen Buffy? She hasn't shown up. You haven't, either? Oh, dear…Please have her call me when she comes home. Bye."

He returned to the table. "Mrs. Summers hasn't seen her either?" Willow asked, worried. Everyone was worried, including Lara. It was getting late, and Buffy normally didn't stay out on patrol at this hour.

Xander stood up. "I'll scout the cemeteries. Anyone want to join me?"

Willow, Anya, and Tara volunteered. "I should get Ms. McIntyre settled onto my apartment's couch, then I'll join you at Sunnydale Cemetery. Tomorrow, everyone including Buffy can watch those videos Ms. McIntyre mentioned."

With that, they went their separate ways.

*****

When Lyra heard the doorbell ring, it made her jump. She was distracted by Leon's phone call only forty minutes before. His voice had been shaking, and he told her that he was coming right over with Jake. She worried that something bad had happened.

So when the doorbell rang, she ran over and opened it. She was relieved to see Leon standing there and in one piece. "Leon!" she said, letting out a breath. She hugged him and then kissed him hard. "I was worried something bad had happened. Thank God you're all right!"

Leon pulled out of her clutch and smiled a little. "Well, something happened, but it wasn't bad…well, I guess that all depends on your point of view, actually…"

He stepped back, and Lyra took in the presence of Jake and…

Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped.

"Sarah Michelle Gellar!" she exclaimed. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"

Leon tried to soothe her before she got too out of control. Buffy whispered to Jake, "Big fan, huh?"

"Really big," he answered. "Think we should tell her the truth?"

"She's not Sarah, she's Buffy Summers," Leon announced.

"I think your friend just did," the Slayer observed.

*****

Darla dug through the pile of mail front of her. She and Drusilla were in the living room of a now dead family of five. It hadn't taken much effort to get invited into the house, and the kill had been exhilerating.

She had discovered that this was Los Angeles, but not the one she knew. She knew they were in a different world. She noticed a few differences. One, the papers didn't mention Wolfram and Hart at all, and she'd found a map of California. On the map, she'd found a Sunnyvale, but it didn't say anything about a Sunnydale.

They weren't as strong here, nor as fast or as swift. They couldn't jump as far as before, either, but they were still vampires. They could still vamp out and drink human blood.

Drusilla was walking around the room, looking at the dead family's pictures. She knocked a few over before continuing. "I'm bored," she said. "There are no vampires or demons here. Let's have some fun and show the world what our kind is like. Then we can all have tea and scones."

Darla flipped through a magazine and smiled. "Your right. This is getting boring-" Something on one of the pages caught her eye.

She stared at the picture. It was of Angel and herself, and they were standing out in broad daylight.

She read the caption and said, "Well, well. Our roles certainly are different here."

"Grandmother?" her psychotic companion questioned.

Darla tore the page out and stood up. "Let's go to Warner Brothers' Studios. We'll have plenty of fun there."

*****

Angel flipped through his collection of books, looking for an explanation to what happened to Darla and Drusilla. He'd done this for the last three hours and he still couldn't find anything, and he was running out of books to look in. He may have to go over to Angel Investigations and borrow a few books. He'd probably better do it soon, while Gunn, Wesley, and Cordelia were still at the hospital.

He opened his last book and started flipping through it, then took a double-take. There was a picture of lightning in here and of a light that surrounded a demon. The picture was on the page opposite of words written in Latin. Angel started reading it.

"A transfer spell?" he wondered. "Transfer to where?"

The passage continued, saying that the spell worked on whomever the spell caster wished to transport to another world, and the same applied for anyone in the other world that he or she wished to transport to this world. Unfortunately, he thought with a curse, there was no known way to reverse or cast the spell, at least according to this book.

Angel sat back. Whoever cast the spell knew what the spell was. He frowned. Why was he worried? Darla and Drusilla were connected to Wolfram and Hart. With them gone, he'd have less to worry about. No, that's not it. He still cared for Darla, although not as a soulless demon. Also, whatever world they were in did not deserve them, and whoever cast the spell was too dangerous to ignore.

Angel put the book in his coat pocket and headed out the of Hyperion's lobby door. It was time for another visit to Caritas, Merl, and any other place, person, or demon he could get information.

*****

Ben stepped out of the apartment building. The woman and her demon minion crouched in the bushes, waiting.

Only a few feet down the sidewalk, Ben paused with his back to them. He said tiredly, "What are you doing here, Iotta?"

Iotta stepped out of her hiding place and smiled. Ben turned to face her and glowered at her, but her expression never wavered.

"Ben, don't tell me you didn't miss me," she said, pleading a little. The image was lost, however, because of the demon that eyed Ben with distrust.

"Why are you here?" Ben asked.

"Doing what I always do, brother."

"I am not your brother."

Iotta became angry. "Just because you deny any relation to most of our relatives does not mean you can do the same to me!" She took a deep breath. "There you go again. You always get on my nerves."

"It's your charm," Ben said sarcastically. He nodded at the demon. The huge guy did nothing but keep staring. "Why is he here? You're not planning on fighting our sister with that, are you? She wouldn't even get a wrinkle in her dress over him."

"It's insurance," she stated. "You never know what you'll run into on the mouth of our former home."

"Why don't you just use your telekinesis?" he asked. "That's what your good at, after all."

"I save it for a last resort," Iotta answered, as if the answer was obvious. The question had been a stupid one; both of them new that when Iotta used her powers, she tended to be very destructive without intending to be.

"Then go to the Knights of Byzantium," he said. "They're after the same thing you are."

"Those jerks are morons who can't give up old ways and use Uzi's. They don't know where the Key is anymore than I do. You know where it is, though. Please, where is it, Ben?"

Ben bit his lip. The only thing they ever agreed on was that the Key should be destroyed. But he couldn't do that anymore, because the Key had a conscience, and it would be just like killing one of his patients intentionally, which he had sworn never to do.

"I can't tell you, Iotta," he answered. "The Key isn't what it used to be."

"Don't you remember what happened the last time Glory got her hands on the Key?" she asked, angered even more. Ben looked down. "She got back into Hell, and made everything much more worse than it already was. But we can prevent it! Don't you remember?"

"You know what they did when they sent her out of Hell again. They connected us. I can't help you now. I'm sorry." Ben moved faster than any eye could see, something he had in common with Glory, and fortunately something Iotta did not possess.

Iotta glared at the spot where Ben had been, then turned to her demon and said, "Come on. We're going to visit that vampire again. I think he knows more than he's going to tell us…willingly, at least."

*****

PART SIX - THE ACTION BEGINS

The next day - Thursday, February 15th, 2001

Michelle, Mira, Kyle, Kira, and Kristin stared at Buffy, Jake, Lyra, and Leon. "You've got to be kidding," Kristin finally said.

"I wish I was," Buffy answered. "I'd like to get back to Sunnydale. There's no telling what's happened to Dawn or anyone else."

Michelle couldn't believe this, either. If they were telling the truth, Lara was stuck in a world where who knows how many vampires were. "Prove it," she said. "Slayers have advanced healing and strength, right? And you can jump long distances?"

"We can," Buffy answered.

Lyra handed her a long metal pole that was once used to hold up a window shade. "Here, you can use this."

Buffy took it in her hands. She then bent it until it was in the shape of an upside down U.

Everyone stared. "So it's true," Kyle said. "Woah." Kyle looked up and down Buffy's body.

Mira noticed and folded her arms. "Are you looking her over, Kyle?" she asked loudly enough that everyone could hear.

Kyle met everyone else's gazes before guiltily turning to his girlfriend. "No, Mira, no way! I would never do that, I swear."

"Uh-huh." She gave him her patented 'we'll-talk-later' look, and Kyle did his best to become as unnoticeable as possible. Mira smirked.

Buffy changed the subject. "Lyra already showed me a few tapes, and I've gotta give it to you, you capture my life perfectly in every way." She wasn't really sure that was a good thing. "I really want to meet Sarah Gellar and this Joss guy now."

Leon let out a curse and held the paper out to Buffy. "I think you'll get your chance."

Buffy read the headline. "Several bodies of guards at the Warner Bros. Studios' lot were found this morning in one of the buildings. All were drained of blood and had two little wholes in their necks."

"Sounds like some really sick vampire cultists," Mira said, disgusted.

Buffy frowned and exchanged glances with Jake and Leon, who were thinking the same thing. "I think it's Drusilla and Darla," she said.

"Drusilla and Darla are here, too?" Lyra said, slightly excited, but getting more and more fearful every minute.

"Yes, they are," Buffy said, standing up. "I need to get down there. Can someone drive me?"

"I will," Jake said.

The others stood up. "We'll all go, and we can take my van," Kyle volunteered. "The band equipment's not in it, so there should be plenty of room."

Buffy looked around the room. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea, guys. They aren't as powerful here, but they're still dangerous."

"Well, I'm kind of worried about dying," Kira said, "but if Lara really is in your world, we need to figure out a way to bring her back and send you back there. Darla and Drusilla may be able to help us."

Buffy nodded and opened her weapons bag. She tossed everyone stakes, crosses, holy water, and a few other things. She handed a crossbow to Jake, since he had proven earlier that he could use it. She kept a stake and the other crossbow for herself and slung the bag on her shoulder. "Okay, let's go."

*****

"Maybe this one?" Lara suggested, holding up a book. It was part of Giles' collection, and it was written in a language she didn't recognize.

Giles took one look at it and shook his head. "No, that's full of Old French cooking recipes."

Lara gave him a look but put the book back in its place on the bookshelf.

They were sitting in his living room, waiting for the rest of the scoobies to show up so they could watch a few episodes of Buffy. They were looking for a way to reverse whatever had brought her here. Unfortunately, Giles had a very large collection, and she was having trouble finding the correct books. Giles wasn't helping, either, because he was currently engrossed in one of them. She could understand why that always got on Buffy's nerves during the show.

She grabbed a bunch of books and had to call Giles' name three times before she got his attention. She held the books up and he said they were good, so she went over to the couch with a few dictionaries. She sighed as she looked at the first book. It was written in Latin, and the other two were written in Old German. How could the Scooby Gang stand doing this time and again? She glanced at the videotapes lying on the table and hoped the others would get there soon so she could put this off for a few hours.

As if in answer to her prayers, which was possible since the PTB always had their eyes on them and the guys in LA, the door opened. Willow, Tara, Anya, Dawn, and Xander stepped inside.

"Any luck?" Giles asked. Lara looked at them hopefully. Buffy was still missing, and she was worried about her, too.

"Maybe. Xander may have found something," Willow is.

"He does? What is it?" Dawn asked, worried and hopeful.

Xander held up a newspaper. "Page 6 says a woman walking her dog was pushed out of the way by a girl with blonde hair. Then a white light surrounded the girl and she disappeared."

"That's what happened to me and my car!" Lara said. "Is the blonde girl Buffy?"

"It's possible," Giles said.

"And if that's true, Buffy is in Lara's world," Willow included. "Unless she got sucked into another one."

"We can get her back, right?" Dawn asked them. "And soon, too?"

"We will," Xander promised her.

"It sounds like a transfer spell," Giles said, thoughtful. He stood and went over to his shelves and started glancing through them. "I wonder-?"

"Wonder what, Giles?" Willow asked.

"Giles?" Lara asked too.

"Hmm? Oh." He looked at them. "If my memory is correct, a transfer spell needs a large conduit of energy, like a lightning bolt."

"There were lightning bolts," Lara confirmed.

"One person must be taken from one reality and switched with one or more people in another reality. The spell has been lost for millennia, however."

"Glory," Xander said as the thought occurred to him. "What if she has the spell? She's several millennia old, isn't she?"

"Yes," Giles said. "Unfortunately, we don't know where to find her. And the spell would be too dangerous for a mortal to perform."

"But," Willow said defensively, "I'm good."

"Yes, I know you are, Willow, but this sort of spell will kill any mortal who tries to cast it."

Lara sat back and closed her eyes. She wanted to go back to her dimension, but her chances kept getting slimmer and slimmer.

Willow walked over. "Don't worry, Lara. We'll find another way to get you back."

Lara smiled up at her. "Thanks."

That's when something kicked against the door and it flew off its hinges.

*****

Ben exited the Magic Box carrying a bag of magic supplies. He hadn’t seen the new owner, but he had met his employee, a young woman that he was pretty sure had a little bit of demon in her genes.

Ben got in his car and drove to a warehouse. He had to hurry. He didn't know how much time he had before Glory took over again. He'd wasted enough already.

When he reached the warehouse, he cleared a space on the floor and spread out the magic supplies. Then he took the transfer spell out of his pocket. This spell would take away most of his energy, making him mortal and vulnerable for several months. But he knew the Key had to be protected, and he couldn't do that; the Slayer could. He took a deep breath and sat in the large circle he'd drawn on the ground.

That’s when he felt it. Glory was taking control again. Shit. Not now, not now. Please go. Go away. She was too powerful. She was always too powerful, even if she was weakened from performing the first transfer spell. Still, he tried to resist. He failed.

His features shifted into Glory’s, and her own persona took over.

Glory glanced around at the spell materials laid out on the ground before her. She stood up quickly as her brain worked out what she was seeing. By then, she was fuming. "Do you think you could have stopped me?" she asked Ben, even though she knew he couldn’t hear her. "Going behind my back like that. Well, you failed."

A smile crossed her face as her mind turned to happier thoughts. "With the Slayer out of the way, I’ll find the Key, and there’s nothing you can do about it, Ben."

*****

Kyle drove his van up to the side of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer sound stage. To get past the guards, Buffy, who was sitting in the passenger seat, pretended to be Sarah showing up for work. Apparently, the guards posted at the booth she went through had a few crushes on her, so it was easy.

This alley was empty, so it was a good place to enter the big hanger-like building. Kyle parked the van.

Buffy turned to regard everyone in the back seat. "Okay, everyone, remember our cover: if you run into anyone, say you're bringing extra weapons that Joss wanted for the show. Everyone ready?" They all nodded, although Kira and Lyra were looking more nervous and excited than the others. "If anyone wants to stay in the van, they can."

"No way," Michelle said. "I'm getting my best friend back."

"Okay." Buffy glanced around. "Let's go."

*****

Everyone stared at the giant demon now blocking the entrance.

"Hello, Bigfoot's cousin," Xander remarked under his breath.

The demon stepped through the door and everyone moved back a step. A beautiful yet deadly looking woman followed the demon into the apartment.

"That blonde vampire wouldn't tell us anything," she said, sounding disappointed and a little angry, "but he didn't need to. The Key is here. I can feel it. Now which one of you is it?"

"We're not going to tell you," Giles said softly, calmly. Lara had heard him use that voice a hundred times on a television set; hearing it up close and personal sent a shiver down her spine.

Giles made his way, slowly and carefully, to his weapon's chest.

The woman's face set into a hard line. "There's no way I can let the Key live. So if you won't hand it over, you will all die."

Giles crossed the remaining two feet quickly and through the chest open. He grabbed the sword, but the demon was already behind him. With a vicious backhand, he sent Giles and the rapier in different directions. Giles collided with his stereo system, sending sparks and electronic bits flying, while the sword soared toward Dawn and Anya, who stood at the base of the stairs. Both girls let out shocked screams and ducked just in time.

"Anya!" Xander screamed from his position in front of the kitchen island. Willow, standing next to him, shouted at the same time, "Dawn!"

"Do something!" Lara told Willow while she helped Giles to stand. She and the watcher watched the demon advance on them.

Tara grabbed Willow's hand, and together they began to chant.

"Banish these beings from this place!" Tara said, raising her free hand at the demon.

Willow raised her own free arm at the woman. "Prevent them from entering here again. Make this place cleansed of-"

With a cry of outrage, the woman made a sweeping gesture motion at the two girls and Xander, and all three went flying back.

Tara and Willow hit the wall and slid the ground, breaking up any furniture they hit on the way down. Both of them were unconscious. Xander's soaring mass hit the demon in the back. He slid to the floor, also down for the count. The demon, however, was not. He turned around, snarling, searching for what hit his back.

"Here!" Anya called to Giles before she tossed him the rapier. Giles caught it and plunged it into the demon's back. It let out a cry of pain before collapsing to the ground, dead.

"You'll pay for that!" the woman cried, angrier than before. Before she could raise an arm, however, something collided with her back, sending her to the floor.

Glory stood above the woman. The Hell Goddess ignored the others and glared at the woman lying at her feet.

"Iotta," Glorificus snarled. "I should have known you'd come here. You and Benjamin are always going behind my back. Do you know much that hurts, bitch?"

Iotta tried to get up but Glory grabbed her arms. Spinning, she threw Iotta out the apartment door and let her go soaring across Giles' courtyard. Glory followed after her, her rage showing clearly.

Anya and Dawn took the opportunity to cross the living room and help Giles and Lara wake up Xander, Willow, and Tara.

"What do we do now?" Dawn asked when the three began to stir. "Do we just hope that however wins will go away and never come back?"

Giles didn't say anything. He had no idea.

*****

Darla and Drusilla walked around on the Buffy soundstage. Night had finally fallen, allowing them to leave an empty section of the Warner Brothers' lot and head over here. They'd just found this sound stage and had plans to move to the Angel soundstage after they were done here.

Quite a lot of people moved about inside. The two vampires stuck to the shadows. Too many people had recognized them already and tried to question why they were there. Although their deaths had been fun, Darla didn't want to draw too much attention to them…yet. So they stayed in the shadows and managed to avoid most of the people milling about, busily trying to produce a television show for millions of fans.

"They mock us, grandmother," Drusilla said, putting. "No one is scared. Can we make them scared?"

"Not yet, Dru, but very soon." Darla promised. "We'll wait until they start another shoot. Then we'll make our entrance."

Dru clapped her hands together, delighted. "We'll be at the center of the King of Spade's party! Everyone will see us and they will be ours."

"Hey! Julie, Juliet!"

Darla turned at the voice and saw the woman who played the Slayer walking their way. She had addressed them by their double's names. This should be fun, Darla thought, a beguiling smile appearing on her lips.

"What are you two doing here?" the blonde asked. What was her name? Darla wondered. Ah, yes. Gellar.

Gellar was still talking. "And why aren't you in costume? I thought you guys were over on the Angel set tonight."

Darla glanced a Dru with a raised eyebrow. So far, all of the people they'd come across had told them that Landau and Benz weren't supposed to film anything on either show for the rest of the season. Perhaps they hadn't been capable of thinking very well during torture. TV crewmen never could think very well under any circumstance, in her opinion.

"Come on, I'll walk you over there," she continued. "I need to talk to Joss about something and he's over at that set right now."

Darla and Dru followed the actress outside. It didn’t matter if Gellar was telling the truth; playing with her would make up for any wasted time.

Gellar didn't even stop talking. She went on and on about that season of Buffy as if it was really personal to her or something. Darla wasn't really interested, although Dru kept her eyes glued on the thespian, expressing a child-like fascination that normally irritated Darla. That changed when the older vampiress realized the Drusilla was gazing at Buffy's neck, hidden by her long, wavy hair. It made Darla smile approvingly.

When they were in the middle of the road between the Buffy soundstage and the Felicity soundstage, Gellar stopped walking. She stood a few feet away from them with her back turned, but she slowly turned around. A hard, confident expression was on her face. "Surprise," was all she said.

Darla was about to ask her what she was talking about when the two vampires heard several weapons being moved into position. Glancing around, they realized that teenagers holding crossbows, swords, and stakes surrounded them on all sides.

Buffy folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Vampires really are dumb, aren't they?"

Dru let out a long, loud growl. Darla said sarcastically, hoping to throw off her opponents, "Is this your new Scooby Gang, Slayer?" she said. She definitely knew now that this was Buffy, not Gellar. "Got tired of that little Watcher of yours and your pathetic little friends?"

Buffy's expression became harder. She raised a stake, ready for battle.

*****

Iotta did not wait for Glory to cross the courtyard. She stood quickly and raised an arm.

Glory froze, caught and held by Iotta's telekinesis. She let out a growl, and with every bit of strength she had, she pushed against the psychic barrier.

She was too strong. Gasping, Iotta's hand dropped and she dropped to her knees.

Glory was above her now. She grabbed Iotta's arms and swung her, this time in the direction of the Watcher's roof. Just before collision, Iotta used her telekinesis to stop her body and lowered herself gently to the ground. Unfortunately, her mind was spent and she needed to recover if she wanted to use that skill again.

"You want to fight, Glory?" she asked, raising her fists. "Come and get it. I will not let you have the Key!"

Letting out a cry of frustration, Glory jumped over the fountain and got into a fighting position. "As if you can, sis," she told Iotta, "Neither you nor Ben have ever had as much power as me. Either join me, or you'll be getting out my way pretty soon."

Glory swung and Iotta blocked. The fight began. Iotta continued to be on the defensive and managed to avoid many of Glory's blows. Be before Glory even realized what was happening, Iotta used her telekinesis to stop Glory's fist in mid-air. As fast as Glory could move, Iotta jumped up and kicked Glory in the stomach. The power behind the blow sent Glory colliding with the courtyard fence.

Glory slumped to the ground and stared at her sister. "How?" she asked.

Iotta grinned as she tried to catch her breath. "You forgot, sister, that I can mimic my opponent's powers in a fight. Forgetting something like that would be a big mistake, Glorificus. You told me that once."

Moving faster than light, Glory ran at Iotta and picked her up by the neck. Iotta, too weakened from borrowing/mimicking Glory's powers and drained from using her own telekinetic powers, couldn’t do anything to stop her.

"You're right, sis," Glory whispered in her ear. "I shouldn't have forgotten that about you. But I do remember that you're weak and that lose strength easily in a fight. I also remember that when you're weak, you're just as vulnerable as a mortal. Looks like you've forgotten that."

Iotta's eyes widened when she realized what Glory meant. It had been so long since Iotta had to fight in any battle that she had forgotten that. But now she remembered it clearly. Now, when she was so weak, she could be harmed and killed permanently by mortal wounds.

"Say 'hi' to mom for me," Glory said. She released her chokehold on Iotta's neck and grabbed both sides of her skull. She twisted and Iotta's neck brought, killing her instantly.

Glory didn't even watch her body fall to the ground. Instead, she looked intently at the open door. No one could stop her now from getting what she wanted. Confident, she stepped into the apartment.

*****

Angel finished drawing the circle on the floor of the Hyperion lobby. He placed seven candles at even intervals on the curved line and drew several pagan symbols on the walls, stairs, and front desk. After he was done, he stepped inside the circle and sat down, cross-legged, facing the north.

Reading from the sheet sitting across his chest, Angel intoned in German, "Energie ist für Übel von den Unbekannten Personen erfaßt worden."

Power has been gathered for the purpose of evil by persons unknown.

It was used to transfer beings between worlds where no portal existed.

It has upset the balance between order and chaos, and now it must be corrected!

The beings will be returned to their original dimensions, and everything shall be balanced again!

Once all the words were spoken, lightning flashed, illuminating the darkened lobby. An invisible hand simultaneously lit the seven candles, and the symbols decorating the room begun to glow.

Angel gasped and collapsed inside the circle. The Host at Caritas had told them that there would be pain and lots of it, and he was right. Agony shot through him as if the bolts lighting the LA sky outside were striking him.

It had worked. Now, all there was left to do was wait for the pain to end and see if Darla and Drusilla were back in this reality.

*****

The Scooby Gang watched as Glory once again entered the apartment. They'd seen her kill Iotta and knew that however much they fought that they'd probably meet the same fate. Lara knew that there was no way out of it and hoped they could hold of Glory until she morphed into Ben. She hoped that what would happen soon.

Suddenly, lightning split the air with thunder accompanying it at nearly the same moment.

Glory collapsed as if struck. She gasped and looked fearfully outside as another bolt struck, striking the ground close to Iotta's body. The Scoobies and Lara stepped back, but Glory just said, almost whining, "No, not now, damnit!"

Lara remembered the last time she'd seen a lightning storm. Checking herself, she gazed at her hand in shock. She could see through it.

"Lara?" Dawn cried, afraid. A light surrounded Lara, blocking her view of the others. Here we go again, she thought, remembering what would happen next.

The light grew intensity until she couldn't see anything else, then everything turned to black.

*****

Lightning split the sky, startling many of them. The bolt struck the side of the Buffy soundstage. The sign attached to the wall started to fall. Jake and Kyle grabbed Kristin, Mira, and Lyra and pulled them out of its way just in time.

"What the hell?" Michelle and Kyle said at pretty much the same time.

"We need to find some cover from the storm!" Kira said, already looking around. None of their options looked good; many of the buildings were made of tin, and a metal building was the perfect conductor for lightning like this.

Jake and Leon had a feeling that they knew what was coming next. They exchanged a glance before looking at Darla, Drusilla, and Buffy. Just as they'd expected, all three were becoming transparent-like, as if they were fading away from this reality.

"I don't want to go through this again, Grandmother! Make it stop!" Dru cried piteously.

"I am going to kill whoever is casting this spell!" Darla said with a growl.

Buffy looked at her temporary Scooby Gang. "I guess I won't be seeing you again," she said before the light grew too bright to see beyond.

The Buffy and Angel fans watched as the light faded, leaving behind an empty space. However, the storm wasn't finished. Several other bolts hit the ground nearby or split the sky into pieces.

"Look!" Lyra shouted over the extremely loud thunder. She pointed to the group's right, in the opposite direction from the spot where Buffy, Darla, and Drusilla had disappeared.

A beam of light the size of a person appeared. A few feet away from that was a large, bright mass. Both lights softened before fading away, leaving behind a car they all recognized and a person they were delighted to see.

"Lara!" they said, running toward the fully materialized girl.

Lara stared at them before a wide grin broke out on her face. Then her friends collided with her and encompassed her in a huge bear hug. When they separated, Jake stepped forward and grabbed Lara in another hug. "That God you're alright," Jack said before kissing her.

"I could say the same for you guys," she said.

"Buffy was here," Lyra said, excited and happy.

"So were Drusilla and Darla," Kristin said, holding up her weapon.

"Looks like we have a lot to talk about," Lara said, happy that she was back in her own world.

She wrapped an arm around Jake's waste and followed the others to Kyle's van. Before they stepped inside, Jack hugged her again. "I’m so glad you're back," he said.

"Me, too," Lara said sincerely.

"There's something I want to ask you," Jack continued, "and I can't think of a better time."

He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a box. It was a ring-sized box.

Surprised, Lara watched as Jake got on one knee. "Lara, will you marry me?" he asked, holding the lid of the box open.

She gazed down at the ring. This was so surprising, even after everything she'd been through in the past twenty-four hours. It was a good surprise, though.

Smiling widely, she said without hesitation. "Yes, I'll marry you, Jacob Grayson."

*****

Dru and Darla re-materialized on the street outside of the hospital in Los Angeles. Across the street was the building that had been destroyed the first time. "Damnit!" Darla said.

Meanwhile, Buffy found herself in Giles' apartment. She took in everything quickly: the destruction, her friends loaded with Giles' weapons, and finally, a very angry yet sick-looking Glory.

Glory was staring at her in anger. "No, damnit! You're not supposed to be here," she said, standing up. "Well, I'm getting the Key no matter if you're here or not."

She took a step forward and Buffy instinctively got in front of Dawn, protecting her. Glory didn't make one step before her eyes became wide again.

"Oh, no you don't," she said to no in particular. "Stay away!" she said just before she collapsed. Her features shifted in front of their eyes, and the next minute, Ben stood before them.

No of them retained any knowledge of the switch between the two sibling Gods. All they were really sure of was that Glory had been there one minute, and then something happened to make her leave and then Ben came to the apartment.

Ben took in the scene. He heard one last bit of thunder in the distance and let out a breath in relief when he realized that the transfer spell had been reversed. He didn't know who had done it, but he was glad they had.

He decided to getting out there would be the best course of action. So he took off. He stopped at Iotta's body. "No," he said quietly. Then, remembering his mortal audience, he picked up his sister's body and carried her out of the courtyard and out of sight. He'd mourn for her in private after he buried her.

Buffy turned to her friends when he was gone and was almost immediately grabbed and hugged several times.

"It's so good to see you guys!" she said, enduring the attention. Giles was the last one to hug her. After he stepped back, she remembered Darla and Drusilla. "We have to call Angel."

"What? Why?" Willow asked, confused.

"Yeah, why do we need to tell Deadboy about this?" Xander asked.

"Darla and Drusilla were transported with me. I think that when we were sent back to this reality, they were sent back to LA. We have to warn him."

"Right. Good idea," Giles said, handing her the phone. "Are you all right?"

Buffy nodded as she punched in the number for Angel's hotel. "I'm good. I had a lot of help."

"Were they Lara's friends?" Tara asked. "She switched places with you. I hope she was sent back to her own reality."

"It's probable that she was," Giles reassured them.

Buffy got Angel's answering machine. She left a rather lengthy message before hanging up. She hoped he was just out and would get the message soon.

"Looks like you guys had a great time," she remarked with a raised eyebrow as she took a longer look at the destruction in Giles' living room.

"Yes, well, it's been a very eventful two days," Giles said with a smile.

Giles closed the door and they cleared places on the furniture and sat down. They were too worn out to do much of anything else. Buffy called her mom to let her know that she was okay, then she told the others, "I hope Ben is okay. He looked pretty freaked."

"Yeah. I wonder how he got here?" Willow wondered.

"I'll ask him later," Buffy said. "In the meantime, I just want to sit here."

"Let's trade stories," Dawn suggested. "You tell us what happened in the other dimension, and we'll tell you what happened here."

"Sounds good."

Xander noticed a few tapes lying on the floor and picked them up. "Guys, these are the tapes that Lara left."

Everyone looked at him. "The ones with the Buffy episodes on them?" Dawn asked, curious.

"She had episodes on tape?" Buffy said, surprised.

"It doubt that it's any good," Anya said. "I've been to that world before. Wasn't really fond of Warner Brothers while I was there."

"Why don't we watch them and make sure," Buffy suggested. She wanted to see just how much alike the television show was to their lives.

It didn't take long to hook up Xander's VCR with Giles' TV set which was still intact. Joyce came over to watch it, too, and they all found seats around the living room and waited as Xander pressed play.

They stared at what was on the screen while the beginning tag scene for "The Replacement" rolled. Then they stared some more when the opening credits began. When the commercials came on, Xander finally said, "I guess Lara wasn't kidding when she said this series showed everything about us."

"And with expensive sets, too," Anya chipped in. "Warner Brothers actually did a good job." Dawn nodded in agreement.

Joyce frowned. "How could anyone sit here and watch innocent people die?"

"I want to know the answer to that, too," Buffy said, ice in her tone. She really wished that she'd had a word with Joss Whedon during her stay in the other reality.

Giles scratched his head and said, "Did they have to put me at the end of the opening credits? I mean, I'm the Watcher. Shouldn't I be after Buffy?"

"Hey!" Xander protested. "That's my actor's spot. Head can go after him."

"That's my spot!" Willow said, indignant.

"Guys, quit it," Joyce ordered. "At least you have credits in the beginning sequence. Tara and I are guest stars!"

"How come Spike gets a credit at the beginning?" Xander wondered.

This went on until the commercials ended and the episode resumed. Then Xander was so embarrassed by what he did in the episode and his actual memories of it that he didn't say anything else, and everyone forgot about the credits to tease him.

THE END