The other Scoobies had somehow gotten the wild idea that Giles was dead and that the First was impersonating him, but they soon found out they were wrong when they tackled him while he was out with the Potentials in the desert...

I wasn't even gonna ask.

Right now, the focus was for Giles, Buffy and I to take the Potentials out to the cemetery at night for training together.

Giles was telling us the story about when he found his friend Robson nearly dead in his flat in England, and he had almost been killed by a Bringer, before Giles had in turn killed the Bringer. "It was, uh, extraordinary good luck, of course. And-and, uh, training--years of training." He looked at the new recruit. "Chao-Ahn, keep up. You're new here, Chao-Ahn, so take note. Remember about training. But I honestly feel the largest part of it was instinct. Instinct and-and reflexes. There's a sort of wary watchfulness I've developed over the years. It's like another sense--"

From out of nowhere, someone attacked Giles, knocking him to the ground.

It was Spike.

I threw my hands up, both exasperated yet worried for both Giles and Spike. "Spike!"

Spike and Giles spoke simultaneously. "Hey!"

Giles frowned, saying, "You're not in pain," the same time Spike said, "You're not The First."

"What the hell are you--" Buffy started.

Spike pointed at Giles in defense. "Anya said he was The First. Said he was evil. He's supposed to be all go-through-able."

Spike stood, walking to my side.

Giles stood. "Then what the hell did you tackle me for, you berk? What's that supposed to do?"

Spike frowned. "I, uh, I didn't think of that."

"Apparently neither did any of the other Scoobies," I pointed out, giving Buffy a pointed look, who shrugged in acknowledgement. I sighed, a bit teasing. "Ah, the chaos of all of us sharing one brain cell."

Giles glanced at me, not denying the comment, before returning to focus on the matter at hand, looking at Spike. "More importantly, you just hit me."

"Why didn't your chip go off?" Buffy asked.

Spike and I shared a look, knowing that this was not going to go well.

Spike looked down. "Yeah, well..."

I looked at Buffy and Giles. "Well, uh, when we were at the Initiative..."

I hesitated before looking at Spike.

Spike raised his gaze to mine. "There was a choice."

I nodded, looking to Buffy and Giles. "Right. Either repair the chip, or to remove it."

Buffy and Giles both stared at me in shock, incredulous.

"You had it remov--" Buffy started, the same time Giles asked, "You removed the chip?"

I smiled, trying to appear innocent. "Yeah."

Spike shrugged. "Had to make a choice."

I really did not want to get into this with the girls here. "It really is okay."

Amanda was lost. "What's a chip?"

"They removed the chip?" Kennedy asked.

Chao-Ahn spoke in Chinese, but I didn't understand a word of what she said. I doubted she understood any of us either.

~~~~~~~

I was actually surprised that we didn't talk about it for the rest of the night as we headed separate ways to the Summers and my houses for the night.

But I knew that wasn't the end of the conversation, and no matter what I said wouldn't stop the lecture or the judgment that I was about to get.

So I wasn't surprised when Buffy and Giles were both at my house in the living room when I walked downstairs.

Giles didn't waste a second before getting to the point. "You know this is very dangerous."

I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah, training Potential recruits to take on The First and its army? Extremely."

Giles gave me a look. "That's not what I'm talking about."

"You mean Spike not having a chip," I stated. "Free range Spike?"

"Why the hell would you make the decision to remove the chip?" Buffy asked.

I pursed my lips, looking from Buffy to Giles. "Guess it was instinct, like you were talking about."

Giles rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I made that up! I knew the Bringer was there because his shoes squeaked." He sat on the living room table. "Zoey, it's crucial that we keep these girls safe. I can't count the dangers. The First, the Bringers, random demons, and now Spike?"

"And the Principal," I added, trying to divert the conversation.

"What?" Giles asked.

Buffy gave me a look but did provide an explanation to Giles. "Oh, nothing much. He was in the school basement, holding a shovel, acting evasive. Plus, he's got that whole 'too charming to be real' thing going on. I'm looking into it. But that doesn't mean Zoey gets to change the subject to Principal Wood instead of talking about Spike without a chip."

"He is a vampire on the loose," Giles told me, standing.

I sighed. "Nothing has changed, Giles. Spike had a chip before, remember? When The First had him kill and sire all those people."

"We have no idea if his chip was working then," Giles said, taking off glasses. "A new chip might restrain him should The First attempt to activate him again."

I turned to face them. "Spike has a soul now. That's what's gonna stop him from hurting people. He literally went through hell and back to regain his soul before The First brainwashed him, and without the trigger, no one would have ended up dead, and both of you know it."

Buffy closed her eyes, tense. "Zoey..."

"He can be a good man, Buffy," I told her. "I feel it. But he's never gonna get there if we don't give him the chance. You see how he protected my mom and Dawn when I was gone, he helped all of you. He's helping train Potential Slayers to fight the forces of evil, for crying out loud."

"He's doing those things for you, not to be a better man," Buffy said disdainfully.

"And if you gave him half a chance, then he could prove to be better than any of you give him credit for," I replied, walking along to start to get ready for training the girls.

Giles and Buffy of course followed.

Giles put his glasses on. "Zoey, I want more for you. Your feelings for him are coloring your judgement. I can hear it in your voice." I knew that they were going to pull that card, sighing in annoyance, but keeping my patience. "And that way lies a future filled with pain. I don't want that for you."

I turned to face them with a shake of my head. "We aren't... Things have been different since he came back."

"It doesn't matter if you're not physical with each other anymore," Giles told me. I looked away, uncomfortable. "There's a connection. You rely on him, he relies on you. That's what's affecting your judgment."

I looked at them, hoping they would understand. "You think I'm losing sight of the big picture, but I'm not. When Spike had that chip, it was like having him in a muzzle. It was wrong. You can't beat evil by doing evil. I know that."

I walked out of the room.

Buffy called after me. "Well, I hope you're right. You're gambling with a lot of lives."

I wasn't gambling if I trusted my instincts and my choices and my judgment with Spike.

I just wish that they trusted me enough to know I wouldn't gamble anyone's lives. Apparently they didn't.

~~~~~~~

Despite the argument that morning, I was glad that Buffy, Willow and I could talk about the new development with Principal Wood after training the girls, sitting in the living room of Buffy's house.

Buffy was sitting on the couch while Willow was folding laundry from the laundry basket beside her, and I sat on the chair across from them.

Willow was folding socks. "So, he asked you out to dinner?"

"Yeah," Buffy answered. " Isn't that weird? I mean, he's a Principal. He's a young, hot Principal with earrings, but he's a Principal. Why do you think he asked me out? I mean, he could be interested, right?"

Willow nodded. "Yeah, sure. You're a frisky vixen."

I gave a slight smirk. "Who wouldn't be interested in the Buffstar?"

Buffy managed a slight smile at that. "Or, it could be work-related. Maybe I'm getting promoted for doing such a good job."

Willow laughed before noticing Buffy's hurt look and getting serious. "Oh, right, that-that makes sense too."

Buffy frowned. "Or, maybe he knows that I suspect he's up to something, and he's taking me out to kill me."

I shrugged. "Well, you'll have to dress for the ambiguity."

"You know, it's not even that he's acting that suspicious," Buffy admitted. "It's just-there he is. On the Hellmouth. All day, every day. That's got to be like being showered with evil. Only from underneath."

"Not really a shower," Willow pointed out.

"A bidet," I provided. "Like a bidet of evil."

Willow smiled. "Buff, if he's really interested, are you interested back?"

Buffy blushed. "I don't know. He's good-looking, and he's-he's solid, he's smart, he's normal."

"I'm gonna wait for confirmation he's not out to kill you before jumping on the bandwagon," I said nonchalantly.

Buffy raised her eyebrows at me. "Like you haven't been risky with wickedness recently."

Willow frowned at that, not yet knowing about the chip or lack thereof yet, just thinking she was talking about my connection to Spike in general, which was also true.

I gave a faux-offended look, relieved that there was some banter here instead of just judgment. "Rude." Buffy smirked while Willow grinned. We heard the front door open. "Hey, someone's here."

Xander walked in, closing the door behind him, walking toward us, giddy. "Guys, guess what happened?"

I spoke in a singsong voice, despite my lack of understanding why she would go on a date at a time like this. "Buffy got a date."

Xander was still excited. "No, I did." He looked at Buffy, frowning. "Fine. Way to steal my thunder."

Buffy shrugged. "Sorry. If it makes you feel better, it's Principal Wood, and I think he's aligned with The First."

"Also, like ten years older than you, right?" Xander asked.

Willow looked between Xander, Buffy and me teasingly. "Which is like 100 years younger than your type."

I smirked at the good point about Angel, Spike and Anya and how long they had all been around.

Buffy chuckled. "Yay. Someone who doesn't remember the Industrial Revolution."

"I think they're gonna end up making out," Willow said, mocking, holding a pair of socks to her chest lovingly. "'Oh, Principal Wood,' she'll gasp, 'I love your lack of immortal energy'."

"Or boring government agent guy energy," I added.

Buffy took two pairs of socks to throw at Willow and me as we both smiled, pointing back and forth between us. "Watch it, or I'm gonna make Willow talk about her new girlfriend who she holds hands with under the dinner table and think we don't notice." She finished by looking at me. "Or about the fact that you took the chip out of your boyfriend's head."

Willow and Xander's gazes snapped to me in disbelief and incredulity, and I could tell that the outrage was already bleeding into Xander's eyes.

I looked at Buffy, not happy with being thrown under the bus like that, correcting her slightly humorously to try and stem the inevitable argument. "A, not my boyfriend. And B, thanks for throwing me under the bus." I quickly changed the subject. "How about yours, Xander? Is she evil?"

Xander barely kept his cool enough to answer without immediately losing it. "Well, A, she's interested in me, so there's a good chance, but I'm hoping for the best. We're going for coffee. B, don't change the subject. Are you insane?"

I looked up, thinking about it. "Generally? Not out of the realm of possibility."

"You took Spike's chip out?" Xander demanded.

"Not technically," I answered sheepishly, trying to ease the tension. "It was killing him, and Mom couldn't help him, so we went to the Initiative base, where a bunch of army guys were waiting for us after I killed a demon, and they said it was my choice to after Riley called in a favor to repay the one he owed me. Even the Initiative was willing to take it out, and they did, so..."

Xander nodded sarcastically. "Right, because they always made great choices when it came to demons."

"This wasn't one," Buffy remarked.

I looked between Buffy and Xander significantly, pointing out that they had no room to talk. "Do you two want to talk about all of the decisions you made with demons?" Buffy and Xander were speechless for a moment. I tilted my head sarcastically. "Come on, Will, I'm sure you have plenty to say."

"I don't want to take sides," Willow said softly, just like the fight we had about Anya a little time ago.

"Smart, playing it safe so you don't have to pick a side," I said. "Don't want there to be any sides anyway. We're all on the same side either way."

Willow gave a slight nod, glancing at Buffy and Xander. "That's true."

I could tell by Willow's hesitance that she still thought it was risky and was still judging silently rather than aloud, but I was kind of glad for the lack of reaction compared to Buffy and Giles this morning, and now with Xander, though the silence felt louder than what they said.

Despite that, I remained calm, just wanting to get through this. "If you have something to say, say it, Willow. No one else is gonna hesitate, so..."

"Because none of us would make a choice like this," Xander said pointedly, angrily.

"Are you guys really trying to give me an intervention?" I asked. "We all know how terribly those work for us."

"Yeah, well, you sure as hell need one," Xander replied. "You took a murderer's chip out."

"I know what I did, Xander," I told him. "And if you would let me explain..."

"What explanation could--" Xander started.

Willow spoke up quickly. "I'm just worried that taking out Spike's chip had more to do with feelings than logic."

Buffy raised her eyebrows meaningfully. "You think?"

"Are you really gonna let 'love' for Spike make you think that you can take his leash off?" Xander asked, saying 'love' with such disgust and anger.

I gave them all a look. "Why does everybody think that I did this because they think I'm in love with Spike?"

"Are you?" Buffy asked bluntly.

I didn't even know how to answer that, moving on. "Believe me, I know how to separate emotions from logic."

"That's not answering the question," Xander pointed out, angry.

"Like I have to answer when you're acting like this," I replied. "Sorry if I don't feel like listening to hypocrisy after everything Angel and Anya did yet you want to judge me for Spike. But let me explain. For one, the chip was killing him, and all of you admitted that we needed him for this war, too. He's helping train the girls. He's helped save our lives and the world before I died. That was even before fighting to get his soul back. And now he's helping us try and save the world again. And yet all of you want to judge me for the choice I made and the reasons I made it when all of you have made similar choices, too."

"Yeah?" Xander asked. "When the hell did we?"

"Buffy hid the fact that Angel came back and was a rabied animal before getting caught, after he came back to live after a murder spree," I answered. "And while that was a long time ago, I'm sure you would have made the same choice now." Buffy looked down, revealing she would. I nodded. "And I honestly don't blame you for that. But you also made that choice with Anya before she turned human again, Xander. She was murdering people of her free will, and you wanted to get through to her, save her, and Willow and I did too, while Buffy wanted to kill her, and you begged her to stop, while Will and I made the deal with D'Hoffryn to save her and make her mortal again. So how is the Anya situation any different than this? Why would you assume I'm letting my emotions overtake logic with Spike who was brainwashed by The First and the chip was killing him while he was helping us fight a war, and then have a completely different take when it was our friend the vengeance demon who was killing people because she got her heart broken? Yet we saved her and all is forgiven? And we did the same for Willow, too."

Willow looked miffed. "You mean when I was trying to kill all of you and end the world."

"But you were still you, and we saved you just like we saved Anya," I pointed out calmly, almost soothing, which Willow calmed down a bit too. "Saving Anya and Willow was the right choice even though their own choices led up to what they did, and the only choice that we could have made if we actually wanted to be, I don't know, human. So how is this any different besides the intentions and how it led up to this?" They didn't answer at first, and I continued. "I'm not gambling with anyone's lives here because I trust that I made the right decision. Why can't all of you have a little more trust in me?"

"We don't trust Spike," Xander said. "And why the hell would we trust the decision to remove his chip after all he's done, when you're gambling our lives and everyone else's?"

I closed my eyes, trying to stay calm, biting my lip hard before being able to speak. "You don't have to trust Spike, even after all I said about him helping us. But what I would like is for my friends not to attack me when they've all been in this position before and are now acting high and mighty. I would like for them to actually trust me and trust that I wouldn't put them or anyone else in danger. Because the way you're acting right now, it's clear that you don't. If you want to judge me for helping a former monster get better, please revisit all I said and realize that all of you have done the same thing with your own ex lovers or personal experiences. I don't judge or blame any of you for that, so why would you with me?"

Xander, Buffy and Willow were speechless, neither one of them knowing how to answer that, but they all still looked haughty, incredulous and judgmental, while Buffy and Willow were a lot calmer than Xander's anger.

Thankfully, before any of them could say anything, Giles and Chao-Ahn walked in through the front door, loaded with overflowing shopping bags.

Giles put down the shopping bags. "Dear Lord, I hate that mall. The shop assistants are rude. And everything in the Food Court is sticky."

Willow, like me, was glad for the interruption and the chance to change the subject. "Looks like you found her some stuff."

Giles looked over to see the four of us. "Oh, hello. Yes."

I looked at the new recruit with sympathy, giving Xander and Buffy a look to signal that we could talk about this later (or likely not), but now that discussion was over. "That's gotta be rough. Getting just like pulled out of your home, being told you're a potential slayer, not being able to bring anything.

"Yes, and the language barrier is formidable," Giles added. "I was concerned that my Mandarin is a little thin, but as it turns out, she speaks Cantonese, which is thinner. But we muddled through, and, as I suspected, ice cream is a universal language."

Chao-Ahn spoke Chinese.

Buffy smiled tensely, nodding, talking through her closed teeth. "What'd she say?"

"She's grateful to be in the land of plenty," Giles stated, speaking (to Chao-Ahn, slowly. "Let's, um, go and put away your new clothes."

Giles picked up bags and walked upstairs. Chao-Ahn nodded and followed.

Leaving Buffy, Willow, Xander and me alone in the tension that had built already.

Buffy shook her head, focusing. "Hey, Will, do you think you can do a computer check on Principal Wood? See if you can find anything out."

"Yeah, sure," Willow answered. "Want me to check your girl out while I'm at it, Xand?"

Xander stared me down for a moment, but I didn't back down, just returning the gaze until he was the first to look away.

I wouldn't let them think I was ashamed or made a mistake, because I was sure I wasn't. I wasn't going to let them make me feel like I did.

Xander sighed. "Nope. I'm going in blind. I'm gonna be an optimist about this. Why go looking for trouble? If it's gonna find you, it's gonna find you."

Xander shot me a significant look that I ignored with an eye roll.

Buffy sighed. "I just want to get through tonight."

"Yeah, well, while you two are gonna be going on dates while we're in the middle of a war, I'll be training the girls," I told them.

"You're working them a little overtime, aren't you, Zoey?" Willow asked. "I mean, if Buffy and Xander can take a break..."

"Not all of us can afford to take 'breaks' or go on dates while we have to make sure that these girls are ready and able to defend themselves against whatever The First throws at us," I replied. "At them."

"How responsible," Xander snarked. "Almost makes up for the vampire you let off his leash."

I stared Xander down expressionlessly. "These girls are dying. I'm trying to make sure that most of them get out of this alive. We have no idea when The First could show back up. Today, tomorrow. I'd like to be prepared, and for them to be."

"Then you do that while we do this," Buffy stated. "We got this."

I sighed, looking down.

I didn't blame them for wanting a night off to have fun, to date, or whatever.

What I didn't like was the way they were dismissing me and the concerns I had about The First returning and about the girls training. But I couldn't do anything about that now.

I was just hoping it wouldn't blow up in our faces.

~~~~~~~

All afternoon and some into the night, at my house, I spent hours training the girls before they were all tired, spent and complaining. None of them liked being worked so hard even when knowing they had to be if they were going to get better enough to survive this war.

After, even I was exhausted.

I was sitting outside on the lawn after dark, looking up at the stars.

Spike walked out of the house, joining me on the grass, sitting next to me,  looking up at the stars. "Don't you usually do this with Dawn and Layla?"

I smiled a bit. "Mom's at work and Dawn's in full mini-Watcher mode again trying to find something that can help us in the fight. That, and she and Amanda went to check on Buffy's house to see how everyone's doing over there after training."

Spike nodded in amusement. "Got it. At least they seem to be okay with still having me around after all the chip drama."

I hummed, shrugging. "Yeah, they seem to be the only two okay with any of this. What I did."

Spike sighed. "You mean saving me or taking it out?"

"Both," I answered, glad that the only ones I didn't have to deal with a reaction from were Dawn and Mom, since they were trying to help Spike before the removal, anyway.

I sighed heavily, wrapping my arms around my knees, biting my lip pensively.

Spike noticed how off I was. "What's wrong, love?"

I glanced down briefly at the nickname, before sighing. "Take a wild guess."

Spike looked at me for a second before looking away. "Right. So your friends picked a fight with you because you saved my life by taking out the chip."

"They think I'm blinded by emotion and gambling all their lives," I admitted. "Wish they actually trusted me and my decisions instead of just following Buffy's lead like always."

Spike frowned, knowing that it was likely worse than what I said, but I didn't want to get into it more. "They said that?"

I nodded. "Mm-hmm. Even after I tried to explain."

Spike scoffed. "I'm sure that whatever you said went in one ear and out the other." I shrugged. "Not like any of them have done any different in the same circumstances."

"I said that myself," I mused. "I'm sorry. I just..."

Spike shook his head. "I don't care what they think of me, Zoey. But if you need to take a step back because of them, then I'll do that."

I looked at Spike, noting that Spike didn't seem to be overly defensive after everything, and the offer to back off just because of the state me and my friends were in. "You don't have to..."

"What?" Spike asked. "Be noble? I'm not. They may be think that you're blind, but they're the ones truly. I know what you chose was out of logic and what you felt was right. Because I can help, and I am." I frowned slightly at that, though Spike went on. "They can think I still dream of a crypt for two with a white picket fence all they want. My eyes are clear. Just like yours."

Spike finally met my gaze, and neither of us looked away for a moment.

He was right. Logic and what I felt was right were the main reasons I did what I did. But I knew also that to some degree, Giles was right about how I relied on Spike, and how he relied on me. Lately, neither of us had many others to rely on, aside from Dawn and my mother.

But I knew that my emotions hadn't blinded me, even if they were there. And partly responsible for the decision to remove the chip. Though Spike knew that they couldn't have taken away my ability to see straight on this, so I didn't understand why no one else did, especially after all I mentioned that came before to point out how similar yet different this situation was.

Though leaving it as Spike said, for now, seemed to be the safest option. Not just because I was still worried about voicing what I felt or putting a name to it, but because of the way everyone was acting. If I somehow confirmed what they were thinking about what they asked, if I was in... love with him, even if it wasn't true about being blinded or letting my emotions cloud my judgment, they would take it and twist it into love blinding me. And then their reactions today would only heighten and worsen, and right now, we did not have the time for worse.

And I didn't really deny that I was in love with him. I just still had to work that out and say that to myself... before anyone else. Including him.

So stepping back slightly, it seemed like the best route to go.

I nodded barely, finally speaking as I looked away from Spike. "I think that would be good. We were already... keeping it professional. Just more so now. No more... Slipping up, I guess."

Spike managed a small smirk. "Which you tend to do a lot."

I smirked barely. "Shut up." We both shared a chuckle. "You don't have to step back. But it could be easier, make everyone focus on what's important, like winning this damn war, instead of you and me."

Spike nodded in agreement, shrugging, making a joke to lighten the mood. "Never much cared for picket fences, anyway. Bloody dangerous." I chuckled lightly, and Spike had to suppress the smile that came to his lips because it worked. "If that's what you need..."

It wasn't what either of us wanted, which I could guess is why he said 'needed' instead of 'wanted'. I hated that this seemed the logical and best choice we had at the moment, because of how the others were acting when we didn't have time for this, but we weren't left with another choice if it meant focusing everyone into winning this battle, getting as many people out alive as we could. Instead of the constant drama and fighting and judging.

But it did show that Spike would do something he didn't want to by stepping back more if it was what I needed in order to tame all of this with my friends and make sure that we could get through this to the end.

So, touched, I gave Spike a nod. "Thank you."

Spike gave a slight, pained smile. The distance I felt between us now was more than evident, since the only one that had been truly close in so long was him. But stepping back so that the distance between me and my friends, and the finish line for all of us, meant a lot more.

Spike stood from the grass, taking a few steps back as I looked back at him. Spike hesitantly turned around and walked inside, leaving me on the lawn and looking up at the stars, still struggling to figure all this out.

Because we both knew it wouldn't be that easy to fix everything.

~~~~~~~

Dawn had gotten an update from the Summers house while Buffy and Xander were on their dates and came to tell me what was happening.

Andrew had admitted to Jonathan/The First appearing to him.

Of course, Andrew had told Willow to get help, and they had the "genius" idea to have Andrew pretend to be lured in to work for The First again by showing the gun and ask a lot of questions to try and get answers, which led to The First realizing that Andrew was wearing a wire, and then appearing as a rotted corpse Jonathan to threaten and scare Willow, Dawn, Amanda and Kennedy and say there would be so many dead girls by the end of it all...

Yeah, their plan backfired majorly.

So of course, now Dawn, Andrew, Giles, Anya, Willow, Kennedy, Amanda, Spike and I were talking in Buffy's house in the living room.

Willow was sitting on a chair with Kennedy sitting next to her and leaning over her shoulder. "So, we're thinking it didn't go too well."

I nodded sarcastically. "You think?"

Dawn was removing the tape that held the wire to Andrew's chest. "I told you we should've called Zoey first. And you should've let me do this fast."

Andrew winced. "No, no, no. I hate that. Ow."

Spike was skeptical. "You tried to recall the ultimate evil? Why? In a complex effort to royally piss it off?"

Kennedy was sheepish. "Guess we succeeded pretty good, huh?"

"I'll say," I answered.

Andrew was whining. "God, I never should have gone in wired. Redemption is hard."

"Getting back to Spike's question, why did you try to recall it?" Giles asked.

Andrew made an "Ooh!" in pain while Dawn was still removing the tape.

"To study it," Willow answered. "To see if we could figure something out from what it was saying. Because, guys, we have to face it, we know nothing about The First."

Andrew whined again. "Owie! Ow ow!"

Annoyed by Andrew being a baby, Dawn ripped the rest of the tape off to get it done, making him squeal.

I smirked at Dawn, who returned with one of her own.

"Well, we know not to record it," Anya stated obviously. "That's something."

Spike gestured to Andrew. "Why did it appear to this one, then? I thought it was supposed to be pulling my strings."

"It said it wasn't time for you yet," Andrew answered. Spike and I both shared a nervous look at that. "Ow. I'm frightened. And my chest hurts where the tape was."

Andrew sat down.

"It's okay, Andrew," Dawn told him. "You did good. You stood up to it. That's really amazing."

Andrew gave a slight smile. "Thank you. You're a peach."

I glanced at Andrew weirdly. "Yeah. What did it want you to do, anyway?"

"Shoot all the girls," Andrew answered.

I startled as I looked at Dawn in concern, knowing she was here when this was going down.

Dawn looked worried too. "Shoot girls?"

"Not you, just the Potentials," Andrew explained.

Dawn looked relieved. "Oh, well that's something, anyway." I raised my eyebrows at her, causing Dawn to cover her relief while showing she was still concerned for the other girls. "Something tragic."

Giles was clearly exasperated because while I had been training the other girls and this was happening, Buffy and Xander went out on dates. "This proves my point. This time is crucial. We should be circling the wagons instead of doing things like going out on dates when-when gunplay is imminent." I wasn't surprised Giles also spoke up against dating while we were in the middle of a war. "Willow, call Buffy. Get her back here. We need to dispose of the gun and-and figure out our next move."

"Where is she?" I asked. "I can get her."

Willow stood as she shook her head. "I'll call."

Willow's phone went off.

Amanda perked up. "Bet that's her. Sometimes you're thinking about calling someone--"

Willow took out her phone to look. "No, it's a text message. Oh, it's from Xander. It's one of our signals."

"Signals?" Amanda repeated.

"Yeah, the system we set up a while back," Willow answered. "Like codes. Uh, this one's either 'I just got lucky, don't call me for a while' or 'my date's a demon who's trying to kill me'."

Kennedy raised her eyebrows. "You don't remember which?"

"It was a long time ago," Willow said sheepishly.

Dawn looked at me. "Well, if we play the percentages..."

I sighed heavily in concern and exasperation, worried. "Something's eating Xander's head."

Anya seemed to lighten up. "Say, that's gratifying."

"Buffy will know what to do," Andrew said.

I stood, ready to go now. "Yeah, so do I. Find her and tell her what's going on while making sure her date is not a damn demon trying to kill her too and finding Xander before he's demon bait again. I can find her..."

"That's okay," Willow said, once again causing me to pause as she tried to figure out what she would do.

I sighed heavily in annoyance. "Willow, we don't have time for this."

They listened to Buffy like her word was law and it got the job done, mostly before anyone could be seriously hurt. Questioning what I said while our friends were in danger because they didn't agree or trust one decision with Spike was going to waste time we didn't have to save Xander.

"We don't even know where she went," Willow defended.

"Can we manage a locator spell for both her and Xander, then?" I asked.

"I can call her," Willow stated, but as she made the call, we heard Buffy's phone ring, which showed Willow calling on Caller ID. Willow picked up the phone from the table beside her. "That's not good."

I nodded tensely. "Now do you think my choice is a viable one to find our friends before one ends up dead?"

Willow was speechless.

"Zoey's right," Dawn agreed, unable to understand the hold up either. "What are we waiting for?"

Giles nodded to Willow, giving her a look.

Spike walked toward me. "I can probably track Buffy's scent while Willow finds Xander."

Glad for the backup and someone actually stepping in to actively help without wasting time, I nodded. "Let's go."

Without looking back, Spike and I left the house.

~~~~~~~

Spike did manage to track Buffy and Wood to a fancy romantic restaurant.

I immediately ran in to find Buffy at their table, where Wood was giving her a bite of food, walking up to them instantly.

Buffy looked up while being hand-fed by Wood, seeing me. "What are you doing here?"

Wood looked between us. "Is there a problem?"

"It's Xander," I explained.

Buffy's expression melted into one of worry.

~~~~~~~

Now, Wood was driving his car, with Buffy in the passenger seat, and Spike and in the backseat, to the school.

Things were very tense and uncomfortable for a number of reasons.

"You sure he's in the high school?" Buffy asked.

"Willow did a locator spell," Spike explained. "Usual stuff."

"I'm not surprised," Wood admitted. "That school's at the center of everything."

I sighed. "How much longer till we get there?"

"Ten minutes," Wood answered. He watched the rear view mirror to glance from me to Buffy. "So you're both Slayers? How does that work?"

I looked at Buffy in surprise. "You told him?"

"He knew," Buffy corrected. "I'll explain later."

Wood looked at Spike through the mirror. "So how do you know each other?"

I answered a bit too fast. "He works with us." Buffy glanced back at me while Spike raised an eyebrow. I nodded awkwardly. "Uh, you know, in the struggle against evil."

Wood hummed. "Mm. Cool."

Buffy glanced back at me again. "And you're sure that is a two-Slayer job?"

"Upset I interrupted your date because our friend is in trouble?" I asked, but moved on. "Sorry if I wasn't taking chances after the others pissed off the First and we have no idea what we're walking into right now."

~~~~~~~

As soon as we got to the high school, we knew that Xander would be in the room with the Seal in the basement, and Buffy and I burst into the room, seeing Xander strung up to a wheel over the Seal. "Xander!"

His demon date, Lissa as he explained earlier, had stabbed Xander in the stomach and allowed him to bleed over the Seal, where it was starting to open to release a Turok-Han, both of us in shock.

I remarked on Buffy's question before we got here. "Yeah, I'd say this is a two-Slayer job."

"Say 'I told you so' later," Buffy replied.

Instantly, Buffy ran toward Lissa, punching her and disarming her by knocking the knife from her hand.

I tried to close the Seal with Slayer strength to stop the Turok-Han from being released, to no avail.

Xander was weakening more as he bled on the Seal, which was keeping it open. "Zoey! Buffy!"

The Turok-Han burst up from the Seal as he threw me back into the wall. I landed hard on the ground and groaned in pain, starting to get up instantly.

Spike walked into the room to see what was happening and immediately jumped into the fight before the Turok-Han could attack me while I was getting up, slamming it back into the wall.

Buffy swung a wide backhand punch toward Lissa. Lissa ducked, trying to punch Buffy. Buffy ducked, punching Lissa in the stomach, leaning back to snap kick Lissa in the stomach, spinning around to kick her into the wall.

The Turok-Han grabbed Spike by the throat, slamming him against the wall. I lunged for the Uber Vamp from behind, grabbing onto him, as he thrashed and roared, trying to shake me off of him while Spike grabbed him from the front. Finally, the Turok-Han was able to claw into my face and made me let go as it flung its elbow back into my chest, throwing me off to the ground, as it lifted Spike up from the floor and slammed him down, clawing and strangling him. Spike's face vamped out.

Wood walked in through the door, seeing Spike's vampire visage. "He's a vampire."

I looked at Wood as I pointed to Xander. "Get him down!"

Wood finally stopped staring at Spike and ran to help Xander.

On the floor, Spike punched the Turok-Han in the face, kicking it off right toward me. I grabbed the Uber Vamp and spun around, throwing him into the wall, making him fall.

Buffy was still fighting Lissa, kicking her to the ground.

Wood was cutting the ropes that held Xander's hands to the wheel.

Buffy and Lissa were still fighting, struggling over possession of a sword, which seemed to be Lissa's. Lissa knocked Buffy across the room, but Buffy held on to the sword.

As I spun around to kick the Turok-Han in the face and snapped his head to the side, Spike punched him in the head from the other side, making him fall to the ground. The Turok-Han hissed, slamming its elbow into Spike's chest, standing, grabbing him and slamming him onto the wall, kicking him in the face, making him fall. I kicked the Turok-Han from behind, avoiding another slashing from its claws as it swung toward me, ducking, backing away, blood already streaming from my cheek.

Another Turok-Han was reaching out of the Seal, but Wood escaped its grasp as he finally got Xander down from the wheel.

Once Xander's blood was no longer touching the Seal, the Seal slammed shut, cutting off the arm of the Turok-Han that was reaching out.

The Turok-Han punched me in the face, making me snap back, though I ducked the next punch and spun around to backhand punch him in the head hard enough to make him snap into the wall. With a glare directed at the Uber Vamp, I wiped the blood from the slash marks in my cheek from his claws away with the back of my hand.

Wood set Xander down against a wall.

The Turok-Han punched me and spun to kick me, making me back away, trying to punch me. I blocked the move, but couldn't block the punch he sent into my stomach, as he then sent another punch to my head, making me fall to the ground.

Spike was up again, jumping from the wall onto the Turok-Han to kick him in the face, needing the extra momentum from jumping off the wall to knock him down. As I stood, Spike and I both grabbed the Uber Vamp and used our combined strength to throw him through a concrete wall, tearing it down.

Buffy overpowered Lissa and used the sword to cut her head off. As her head was separated from her body, Lissa's true form was revealed as a gruesome pinkish creature with hairy shoulders and stitches all over its head and nasty black shark teeth on its lipless jaws.

Buffy then threw the sword toward me. "Zoey!"

I caught the sword in one hand, spinning it around, swinging it toward the Turok-Han, who narrowly dodged, which I expected it would, which was why I quickly spun around in the opposite direction and swung the sword straight through the neck of the Uber Vamp, decapitating him and watching him fall dead into ashes.

With a sigh of relief that this vamp, even while it was still harder to take care of than any normal vampire, wasn't nearly as hard as the first one, I dropped the sword, trying to use pressure on my cheek to stop the bleeding while holding a hand to my side where I was sure there was a cracked rib from the torso punch that needed to heal.

Spike walked closer to me, a bit worse for wear as well, worried, making sure I was okay. "Hey. Are you..."

Spike noticed the hand on my torso and instinctively put his hand over mine, nearly holding it.

"Nothing that Slayer healing and a trip to my mom won't be able to fix," I answered.

Spike raised his gaze to mine, both of us seeming to remember that we agreed not to do things like this anymore (especially in front of my friends, which we also once again forgot that we weren't the only ones here) at the same time, pulling apart as we noticed Buffy and Wood staring, and Xander with a slight glare...  But Xander's anger had seemed to fade considerably in his weakened state after we just saved his life.

Immediately, I went to Xander's side to make sure he was okay, holding a hand to his stomach to stem his wound. "Hey, Xand. Speaking of trips to my mom, you definitely need one."

Xander nodded painfully on agreement as he gripped my wrist.

Buffy walked over to help me lift Xander up, holding him just as comfortingly as I was. "You're gonna be okay."

Xander grimaced in pain as he lifted him up, looking at Buffy. "So, how's your date going?"

Buffy glanced at Wood, who we both noticed was staring at Spike. Buffy and Xander weren't much better with their stares directed at both Spike and me after our argument and the change of dynamic after Spike's chip was removed, and yet he was still here fighting by our side and helping us save another friend's life again.

I knew it wouldn't change much in their eyes though.

~~~~~~~

I of course called my mother to make sure that she was home from work by the time that Buffy, Spike and I took Xander to my house.

Mom, Dawn, Anya, Willow, Giles and Andrew were waiting for us when we got there.

For now, Xander had his shirt wrapped around his waist as a surrogate bandage, his arms around Buffy and me as we steadied him.

Willow walked closer worriedly. "What happened?"

"What do you think happened?" Xander replied. "Another demon woman was attracted to me."

Anya rolled her eyes.

Mom led us to the table where she already had things set up. "Here, come on."

Willow helped us get Xander to the table so that Mom could start treating his stab wound before it could get worse.

Dawn and Mom both saw my face and I could only think it didn't look well after claws and slashing.

"Zoey?" Dawn asked in concern.

I took Dawn's hand. "It's okay. Help Xander. I'm fine."

Mom nodded, sighing. "Okay, but after you're letting me take care of that."

I gave her a sarcastic salute. "Yes, ma'am."

I had to sit down anyway, exhausted and in pain.

Spike kept his distance as per what we talked about, but his gaze didn't travel far. Neither did mine despite our best efforts.

"What happened out there?" Mom asked worriedly in concern as she treated Xander's wound.

Buffy sat down. "Xander's date bled him onto the Seal and released an Uber Vamp, almost two. I took out the date while Zoey had to take out the Uber Vamp."

"Alone?" Dawn asked, hand holding mine.

"Spike helped," I answered. "He had my back."

Dawn and Mom looked at Spike appreciatively, while the others didn't know how to react to that.

"And Xander's date did all that," Buffy remarked. "You have as bad luck in the love department as we do, Xand."

"I'm well aware," Xander replied to her teasing tone. "That's  why I decided, I'm going gay. I've decided I'm turning gay. Willow, gay me up. Come on, let's gay."

Willow was a little embarrassed, speaking softly. "What?"

"You heard me," Xander told her. "Just tell me what to do. I'm mentally undressing Scott Bakula right now. That's a start, isn't it?"

Andrew nodded wistfully. "Captain Archer..."

I glanced at Andrew before looking at Dawn. "What is he even doing here?"

Dawn shook her head as if she didn't know what to tell me.

Mom had a slight smile.

Spike smirked slightly.

Andrew pouted.

Xander was still going. "Come on, let's get this gay show on the gay road. Help me out here."

I smiled. "What if you just start attracting male demons?"

Dawn giggled. "Clem always liked you."

Mom shook her head at us fondly.

Buffy and Willow smiled.

Anya was pouting. "It would serve you right."

Giles was exasperated. "Children, enough."

Once Mom was done with Xander's wound, she started to tend to mine.

"I'd need some stylish new clothes," Xander quipped.

"Enough!" Giles snapped, causing everyone to look at him. "Have you learned nothing from tonight's assorted chaos? There isn't time for fun and games and quips about orientation." He held up demonic flashcards he made for the girls. "These-these aren't a joke." He flipped through the cards. "This-this happens. Girls are going to die. We may die. It's time to get serious."

Giles walked out of the room, leaving the rest of us somberly taking in his words.

~~~~~~~

Now, everyone besides who stayed in my house was gone, as the others had headed back to Buffy's.

I was sitting on the couch alone in the living room, cheek tended to, as well as my rib.

Spike walked in, sitting on the couch next to me, glancing at my cheek and side. "Layla take care of everything again?"

"Will be good as new in no time," I answered.

Spike nodded barely, relieved but troubled. "Good."

I knew why he was troubled. "You're thinking about what Andrew said. About what The First said about you."

"Damn right I am," Spike answered. "Said it wasn't time for me yet. I should move out. Leave town before it is time for me."

I frowned, shaking my head. "No, you have to stay."

"You've got another demon fighter now," Spike pointed out.

"That's not why I need you here," I told him.

"Is that right?" Spike asked. "Why's that then?"

I looked Spike in the eyes, speaking softly but firmly. "'Cause I'm not ready for you to not be here."

Spike looked at me, only seeming a little surprised by the words. And though I didn't say it, he seemed to know the reasons why.

Despite the complexity of everything going on, I knew just how important Spike was in all of this, and how without him here, then things would have turned out so much worse for a lot of us.

Things had been unbearable the last few weeks and I knew it was only going to get worse. And the only ones I could seem to really rely on lately that weren't icing me out for whatever reason were Dawn, Mom and Spike. And without them, I didn't know what would happen.

And I didn't want to.

But so much for taking a step back.