Oz walked through the house, not really knowing where he was going. He stopped when he saw someone starting to move around.
"Xander? Dawn," he called. He stepped around the other, motionless body on the floor--looked kind of like Spike--to get to Dawn.
"What--Oz?"
"Xander, she's waking up!" he yelled into the other room... Whichever other room Xander happened to be in. He heard footsteps coming quickly.
"What happened?" Xander was in the doorway, staring at the odd picture in front of him.
"Um... I cast a spell, and then my stomach hurt really badly, and then I got knocked out somehow."
"What kind of a spell? Dawnie, spells don't go well for us, remember?" Xander was suddenly really wigged.
"I... I didn't want something to happen to me again like it did with Riley! So Spike and I cast a spell to try and be able to tell which of our friends was evil." She looked at the vampire lying on the floor.
"I guess... I guess he got knocked out, too. And why's Oz here?"
"I found him."
"Was this the spell?" Oz looked at a nearby book and bent down to pick it up.
"Yeah. It's from one of Giles's books. My translation was pretty good... I think."
Oz read through the spell, then looked up. "The spell's to change people into their worst selves."
"Whoa, what?" Xander reached over to grab the book from Oz. He tried to read it, then gave up.
Dawn turned about two shades paler. "Then... Then who..."
"This isn't going to be good."
"No, it really isn't. Hey, wait--why didn't you and I get hit?" He looked at her again, frowning.
"You're always good," Dawn told Xander. "And Oz isn't my friend. I mean, not trying to say I don't like you, but you haven't been around for five years. For all we knew, you were dead. Obviously I didn't think of you."
Oz was quietly impressed. (How else would Oz be impressed?) Dawn had grown up pretty quickly--then again, as a Scooby, growing up at a normal rate wasn't really an option.
"Dawnie. Is there anyway to undo the spell?"
"I'll need someone to help me... And I'll need to find the undoing spell." Spike started to stir.
"Dawn, can I suggest we move? Bad Spike with no chip is not something I'm in any mood to contend with again. Is there a faster way? Something we can smash?"
"I don't know," she confessed.
Oz read through it quickly. "To break the spell, all you have to do is go to page twenty..." he flipped through the book. "Which has been torn out."
"Is there any other way?"
Oz looked back at it. "Yeah, but..."
"Spill, Oz! Now isn't silent time!" Xander crossed his arms across his chest impatiently, the same way that he had so many other times.
"Kill the caster."
At that, Dawn turned paler.
"So we'll find page twenty. Who's book is this?"
"It's Giles's... But Willow has a copy."
"Dawnie. Right now, we need to face the facts that Willow has probably turned brunette again."
Dawn's face was quickly turning white. She remembered the last time that Willow had been bad... She'd nearly destroyed the world.
Xander suddenly stopped, looking out into the living room. "Dawnie... For God's sake, tell me that you don't consider Angel to be a friend."
"I... I don't know." She widened her eyes.
"So we've got Angelus, William the Bloody, brunette Willow, the Ripper, maybe psycho Faith, your sister on a mood swing, and whatever Codfish out there is on a bad day? Dawn, please tell me you haven't made friends with any other demons."
Dawn eyed him, deciding not to bring up Anya.
"On the plus side, no werewolf," pointed out Oz.
"That's true..."
Spike moaned. Dawn looked at him, then jumped away.
"And now is when I say we leave the building, ladies and gentlemen," Xander announced.
"Where are we going to go?" Dawn's voice started rising.
"Angel and Spike can track us... They know our scent..."
"Dawn. There's my van, outside. They don't know it. It's new. We can take that."
Oz looked to Xander for approval. He wasn't quite sure who was in charge, but it probably wasn't him.
"Then let's go, before Spike version 5.0 wakes up. Or Angel version whatever he is by now."
The three of them ran outside. After Oz got the van started, Dawn asked, "Why is it Spike 5.0?"
"Well, first he was whatever he was... Then he was a vamp... Then he was neutered... Then he was souled and neutered... Then he was just souled. And by now, he may be back in version two, but badder than ever. And that isn't someone I want to see at night."
Oz silently agreed, getting ready to head anywhere away from Rome.
Knowing Angelus and Spike... He didn't want to be anywhere around when they woke up. This was a party he didn't want in on.
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