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Xander wandered into the library. He tried to focus on the subject of the meeting they would be having, but the events of the night before kept playing over and over in his mind.

A Vampire had not only saved his life but had actively offered himself up as a protector to a human.

Xander had never had another male stand up for him like that. True, the only men in his life so far had been his dad, Jesse, and Giles. Jesse probably would have had it been necessary and Giles didn’t need to because Buffy would, but his dad was a different story. ‘He’d probably ignore the threat if there was something on the TV that he wanted to watch, or if he was too drunk, and even then he’d probably join in the bashing of the Xan-man,’ he thought bitterly. His father tended to either blame him or ignore him.

Spike. They weren’t even really friends. Sure, they had been cautiously friendly to each other, but they hadn’t really moved into the ‘friends for life’ club yet. The vampire seemed to stand in a group all of his own. He wasn’t a demon that needed to be killed on sight. He didn’t have a soul, but he was still one of the good guys. It totally went against everything that Xander had believed in, so now he was questioning those beliefs.

“Hey, Harris,”

Xander looked up at the greeting to find the individual he had spent most of the night and day thinking about. Maybe Spike would have some much needed answers.

“Hi Spike,” the youth said as he joined the vampire at the table. “Waiting for Buffy?”

Xander had to smile at the way the tough master vampire shyly nodded and only just managed to hold his excitement in check. ‘Dude, you are sooo owned by the Buffster,’ he thought, amused.

“Um…can we…er…talk?” Xander asked uncomfortably.

Spike tilted his head to the side and studied the youth. Clearly the boy had something on his mind. Spike fervently hoped it had nothing to do with the time related problems they had. “What’s this all about, mate?” he asked gesturing to the chair next to him.

Xander thought about what he wanted to say as he moved to sit down. “I…I guess I want to know why?”

“Why, what?” Spike asked quietly.

“Why are you so different? I mean…I hate vamps. Why don’t I hate you?” Xander whispered. He desperately wanted to understand. He needed to know he wasn’t betraying Jesse.

Spike considered the miserable boy. There was clearly something more to this than Xander was letting on. The vampire had the feeling that whatever was at the bottom of the boy’s concerns and how he addressed them would have a profound effect on their relationship.

“Not really sure, mate. I think it’s a combination of a lot of factors. Part of it has to be that I’m not like the vamps you lot meet because I’m not a minion.” Spike answered carefully. “I was turned as a childe; to be a companion rather than a worker. The vamps you meet are usually minions that have been turned by other minions. You see them straight out of the grave and completely lost to their blood lust. Most of them are brainless gits that you should bloody hate.”

“Darla was the Master’s childe,” Xander said to himself, unaware that he had actually spoken out loud.

“Yeah, the bitch was the favoured childe of old batface. I heard Angelus dusted the diseased whore, how did you know her?” Spike asked with gentle curiosity.

“She turned my best friend,” Xander replied flatly. The pain of his loss was evident in his voice. “I never told the others, but he was still sorta the same, just with no restraints. It didn’t matter to him if something was…you know…morally wrong.”

Taking a deep breath, he continued. “He wanted Cordelia when he was alive but she wasn’t interested. We were the school geeks as far as she was concerned. When he saw her that night, he was gonna rape her, kill her, and turn her.” Xander was lost in his memories, horrified by what had happened, what he had been forced to do. “I had to dust him,” he whispered in a guilt ridden voice.

Turning desperate eyes on the blond vampire at his side, Xander begged for some sort of explanation. Something that could help him cope with the near overwhelming guilt that had plagued his nights. “What if he was like you? What if he could have been saved, too? What if I was wrong?” he voiced his inner-most fears.

“Listen to me, Xander. You can’t think like that. I was never like other vamps. One of my first actions as a vampire was to dust someone that I loved more than anything in this world. Turning had changed her so much that she wasn’t the person I loved anymore, and I knew that she would have hated what she had become. I saved her from that. Just like you saved your friend,” Spike spoke with earnest conviction. The memory of his mother’s turning still weighed heavily on his mind.

Xander looked at Spike with hope filled eyes. He so wanted to believe what the blond was telling him.

“What was his name? Tell me about him,” Spike gently encouraged.

“Jesse. His name was Jesse,” Xander smiled sadly as he remembered his friend.

When Buffy and Willow arrived at the library they were surprised to see Spike and Xander laughing and joking together.

Willow felt like she’d been the one sent back to a time when Xander and Jesse had been inseparable. She knew that when they lost Jesse they’d also lost a part of Xander’s sparkle, but something had given it back to him and she suspected it had something to do with the laughing blond vampire that Xander was sitting with. Willow didn’t know how Spike had done it, but she would never forget the gift he had returned to them in Xander.

Buffy stood in shock. The new ability that she’d been trying to master was showing her something had changed. When she looked at them directly she couldn’t catch what it was, but when she let her eyes lose focus she could see it plain as day. The darkness that had been slowly enveloping her Xander-shaped friend had receded. She had noticed it was lighter the day before, but now it was almost gone. The light shining from her super drool-worthy vampire was shining brightly. His glow seemed to be hovering over Xander. If Buffy didn’t know that such things were impossible she might even describe it as almost protective. ‘Looks like Bigfoot’s gonna have to do some work,’ she mused thoughtfully.

William paused at the door of Giles’ spare room; the room that for the moment was acting as the older slayer’s bedroom. He didn’t like to disturb her when she was in there; he knew that she was having a great deal of trouble coping with the duel memories of Angel. She had already confessed to him that she was having difficulty reconciling her memory of dusting him when he had threatened her and the memory of him returning from hell and that for some reason she had felt guilty about his soul, she just didn’t remember what his soul had to do with anything. It’s not like he lost it or anything.

William understood her confusion. He knew that Buffy had dusted the bastard, hell he saw her do it, but he had memories of having the wanker tortured. Memories that he knew hadn’t happened in this time line. If his memories of the great poof weren’t enough, he was now having memories of bonding with the whelp, the same whelp that he remembered treating him with abuse and hatred for years.

Maybe he shouldn’t disturb her. Maybe he should let her be and sort out his own confusion by himself. It wasn’t like she didn’t have enough to worry about.

As he turned to return to the living room, Joan opened her door.

She gazed listlessly into his eyes; expressive eyes that mirrored her emotions. Blue eyes that looked haunted, tired, and confused. She knew how he felt. They both needed time to process. But that wasn’t going to happen unless they could get the younger versions of themselves to stop changing things. Something had to be done…and soon. If they didn’t do something William and Joan would be locked into a continual replay of memories, unable to function at all.

Silently, Joan stepped into the comforting arms of her love.

~*~*~

Spike was so busy laughing at the story Xander was telling him that he missed the entrance of the beautiful girl he was waiting for. Resting his head on the table as he gasped for unneeded air, he failed to notice her approach.

“Whatcha doin’?” the tiny blond asked perkily.

That got Spike’s attention.

“Well, hello, cutie.” He smiled as he turned to her. Gently tugging her down on his lap, he placed his arms around her waist and leaned in to gently brush her lips with his.

Buffy felt her breath catch, as she momentarily lost herself in the depths of his darkening blue eyes.

“Where are Joan and William?” Willow asked, unintentionally bringing Buffy’s attention back to the library.

Buffy and Willow looked expectantly at the blond vampire.

“They didn’t want to upset the visitors, thought it best if they weren’t here for our little pow-wow,” Spike informed them.

“Oh, yeah,” Xander shook his head slowly in agreement, his eyes widened as he pictured the likely reactions of the two people he had invited. “There would definitely be some freakage over the double vision.”

When Spike asked Buffy about her day, Willow took the opportunity to slip away. Knocking softly on Giles’ office door, she entered quietly when his smile told her she could. “Um…I was wondering, cause I noticed that something was wrong, well it might not be wrong but it just looked wrong and that could be my imagination but if it isn’t and nobody else noticed and something bad happens and I could have helped but didn’t say anything, well that would be of the bad, so…”

“Willow,” Giles gently, but firmly interrupted her ramblings. “What is it that you noticed?”

“Oh, um…are Joan and William alright?” she asked, worried.

Giles removed his glasses and contemplated the young girl in front of him. He should have known that Willow would notice something. “They are fine, Willow. They are just having a little difficulty dealing with all the new memories and reconciling them with what they still remember from their own timeline. They just need some time.” He smiled in reassurance.

“Oh, wow…that would be hard. Is there anything we can do to help?” The little redhead offered eagerly.

“I don’t know that we can help, dear,” Giles informed her sadly.

Willow thought for a minute, the beginning of an idea tickled at the edges of her mind. Willow had always found it easier to talk problems through, out loud, as she worked her way to the logical conclusion. “Okay…so William and Joan have all these new memories to deal with and they’re not getting a chance to deal with them because new memories keep coming, so what they really need is a way to stop the new memories for a little while so they can process what they already have before the next lot hit them. The best way to stop the new memories would be to make sure Buffy and Spike don’t do anything different from what they did the first time round; kinda hard what with William being all evil the first time around, still wigging about that. But we could get some relief for Joan if she can tell us what she was doing, then Buffy can do that and Joan won’t have to deal with new memories…oh, oh, oh if we get Spike to stay with William for a while and not interact with anyone else, then William would get some sort of relief, too.” Willow grinned triumphantly at the amazed watcher.

“Willow, I do believe you have found the solution.” He smiled in delight. His smile faded into a look of dread as he glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of the two blonds in the library proper.

Willow followed his gaze and understood his look; telling Buffy and Spike that they needed to take a break from each other was not going to be easy. A cheeky grin crossed her features as an idea came to her. “Buffy’s mom?”

Giles’ expression lightened considerably at the prospect.

~*~*~

Joan’s head shot up as the new memory hit her. All the negative feelings she had been experiencing found a focus and white hot rage exploded within her.

When William realised exactly who it was he was remembering his own anger climbed, he was startled back to reality when the front door of the apartment slammed.

It only took him a fraction of a second to realise that his girl was gone, probably on the way to the library and if her exit was any indication, pissed beyond measure.

‘Bugger!’ he thought as he took off after her.

Automatically shifting into game face to make the best of his vampiric speed, William forgot about the wing factor until he felt his t-shirt tear under the pressure of his emerging wings. He was delighted when he realised that the gentle flapping of his wings as he ran enhanced his speed to such an extent that when compared to a normal vampire, the vampire would have felt like he was running backwards.

It only took him moments to catch up to his slayer, and one look at her face told him all he needed to know. The Slayer was pissed. He called to her, trying to get her attention, needing to stop her from doing something she would later regret. He needed to calm her down.

Catching hold of her in arms of steel, it was hard to say who was more shocked when they lifted off the ground to hover about fifty feet above the street.

Eyes widened with shock met, then focused on the ground below them before returning to meet in mutual amazement.

Joan gulped. “Kinda not good with the whole height thing,” she told him shakily.

“Focus on my eyes, kitten,” he gently encouraged. “I need you to calm down, pet. You need to think rationally. These idiots are likely to be the solution to our little problem. We can’t damage ‘em…yet.” His cheeky grin and eyebrow wiggle got her giggling.

She sighed deeply, placing her head on his chest, drawing strength from his comfort as they slowly drifted to the ground.

Taking a moment to kiss him softly in gratitude, Joan drew back her shoulders and turned towards the school. “Time to go terrorise some nerds.”

William grinned in appreciation and followed her lead.

~*~*~

“But it doesn’t work that way, too many paradoxes,” the small brunette informed them all.

“Oooh, unless they’re like the Bajoran prophets that live in the wormhole and time has no meaning, ‘cause that would be way cool,” the slight blond boy cried excitedly

“Bajoran prophets?” Giles forced himself to ask.

Before the boy could answer, the swinging doors to the library slammed open and the Slayer and her Pure Vampire consort made their entrance.

“Okay, so remember when I said we were sent back in time by three nerds?” Joan asked with deceptive perkiness. “Well, meet two of them,” she snarled in fury.

Jonathan and Andrew cringed in fear.

Xander’s eyes widened in shock; paranoia quickly set in. Was this whole thing somehow his fault? He turned pleading eyes towards his friends. “Please tell me I didn’t do this,” he whispered.

“Huh?” Joan responded, shocked that he had come to that conclusion.

“Nah, mate, this is all Jonathan, Tucker’s brother, and Warren the robot builder. Don’t blame yourself for a second, Harris,” William firmly assured the distressed teen.

“Warren the who what?” Buffy asked guilelessly.

“Robot builder,” Joan responded. A memory suddenly surfaced and she tuned quickly to her mother. “Oh! If a computer salesman named Ted asks you out, mom, tell him no and then let us know.” Joan ordered, shuddering in disgust.

Joyce widened her eyes in surprise before assuring the elder slayer that she would do just that.

“Mom’s dating now?” Buffy asked in horror.

“Apparently not very successfully, pet,” Spike chuckled as he pulled his girl back down on his lap.

Before Joyce could respond to the cheeky blond vampire, Willow grabbed her, pulling her aside for a very quiet conversation.

Not noticing the interaction going on between the redhead and her mother, Joan turned back to the two visitors and considered them seriously before giving Jonathan a rundown on the history she had with him. She told him how she saved him from committing suicide, how he had been the one to honour her at their prom, how he’d done a spell to alter reality and that she’d ended the spell and saved him from the monster of his own creation. Finally she reminded him of how she had treated him after the spell when he had felt ostracized by everyone else. Her eye’s sparkled with unshed tears when she whispered the question that had been burning inside her. “Why? What did I ever do to you that would make you do this to me?”

Jonathan lowered his eyes in shame. He couldn’t imagine anything that this girl could do would ever deserve the way he and his companion had apparently treated her in the future. He vowed that he would not repeat the behaviour.

“But he won’t do it now. We won’t,” Andrew offered innocently. “You changed the flow.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” Giles asked.

Andrew shared a glance with Jonathan. The small brunette nodded then took over the explanation. “You have to imagine that time is like a river with a really strong current. Normally you move with the flow of the river. If you do something big enough you can change the course of the river ahead of you, but because of the current you can’t affect the river behind you.” Turning to face Joan, he continued. “To be able to change the direction of the river behind you, you have to actively get out of the river and move further upstream. Whatever it was that our future selves created made that happen. And just by being here, you’ve changed the flow of the river.”

“But…the Powers said, um, time isn’t linier,” Dawn offered hesitantly.

“Yes, little one. But you are thinking linier means a straight line,” Andrew replied, attempting to project an air of wisdom.

“Uh…it does mean a straight line,” Willow commented firmly, lifting an eyebrow and regarding the little blond sceptically. She really wasn’t sure that listening to anything Andrew had to say would be totally of the wise.

“It also means one dimensional, Willow.” Jonathan said quietly.

“So, you’re saying time isn’t one dimensional?” Giles asked, thoughtful. Removing his glasses, he proceeded to clean them as his mind raced over the possibilities that this information offered.

Buffy looked around the thoughtful faces and wondered if she was the only one that wasn’t getting the significance of what was being said. “And that means…?”

Xander regarded his friend sadly, before trying to explain his theory in a way she would understand. “I think what’s happened here, Buffster, is that we have two dimensions stuck together as one. Two worlds that, at this point in time, were exactly the same…”

“Wait…you mean like ‘Sliders’ and Quinn Mallory?” Buffy interrupted excitedly, with a little bounce on Spike’s lap.

“Sort of, but unlike ‘Sliders’, Joan and William brought their original dimension with them.” Xander focused on his friend as if willing her to understand. “At this point in time, their dimension hasn’t split with ours. It’s the only theory I can come up with that explains the four of you and the changing memory thing.”

“So, what? You’re saying that they’ll go back when the dimensions split?” Spike asked carefully, still trying to process the information that they’d received.

Xander glanced at the couple in question furtively before giving his friend an affirmative nod.

“When?” Joan ground out between gritted teeth. She had a really bad feeling about this.

Jonathan shifted uncomfortably before answering the question in a guilt laced whisper. “In about four years.”

Joan took a deep breath to steady herself, the horror of the situation threatening to overtake her completely. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that if she had to go through four more years of memory changes that she was going to lose the tenuous grip she had on her sanity. Tuning frightened eyes to William, she whispered her fear. “I’m not going to make it.”

Wrapping the terrified blond within his arms and wings, the entire room heard his firm response.

“Not an option, Summers.”

*~*~*

As William calmed her distraught daughter, Joyce made her way over to Buffy and Spike.

“I need to talk to the both of you.”

Joining them at the table, Joyce smiled at the younger version of the embracing couple. “I need you both to know that I completely support your relationship and that what I’m going to ask you to do has nothing at all to do with trying to come between you in any way.”

The two blonds shared a worried glance before cautiously nodding for Joyce to continue.

“Joan and William need a break from the changing memories and I need you two to help them with that.” Joyce told them calmly, her demeanour serious.

“How?” Buffy asked suspiciously as she tightened her grip on Spike.

Joyce knew her daughter well enough to know that if the suggestion didn’t come from Buffy, she’d get very stubborn and very quickly. “Sweetie, I’m not sure. I’m not as knowledgeable about these things as you. Can you think of anything?”

Buffy nibbled at her bottom lip as she considered her mother’s question. She hadn’t really taken the time to think about what it would be like for the older version of herself. So much had happened in such a short time, she’d been hard pressed to process it all once, let alone think about what anyone else was going through. She guessed it would be kinda wiggy to have to deal with uber-badness that her older self was dealing with. With that in mind, she was forced to acknowledge that she might not be the best person to ask. These were the sort of questions she usually left up to her watcher. She pouted, knowing instinctively that she wasn’t going to be happy with whatever solution he not only already had, but had clearly shared with her mother.

Grumbling petulantly about sneaky mothers and their guilt trips, Buffy faced her watcher. “What’s your suggestion?” she asked.

Before Giles could answer her question, Wolfie stepped forward.

“You need to claim Spike.”

“Did I miss something? What happened to the whole let’s-just-separate-Buffy-and-Spike-for-a-little-while thingie we had going on?” Willow asked, confused.

“Claim him? I would have thought that would make the situation worse, not better?” Giles was completely confounded by the new turn of events.

“What? Wait! There was separating?” Buffy was pretty sure nobody had mentioned any separating to her and she really didn’t like the idea of that at all.

Spike heard the word claim and went into mental picture overdrive. A sharp smack across the back of the head by William brought him abruptly back from his happy place.

“Hey!” Buffy shouted indignantly.

William snickered inwardly when he suddenly found himself facing a very pissed off younger version of his love. The expression on her face made his unbroken nose twitch in anticipation.

“Nobody messes with my boyfriend,” she snarled, her fist heading directly for his much abused proboscis.

A slight breeze indicated his movement, her fist hitting nothing but air.

From behind her William leaned in, taunting. “You need to be quicker than that, slayer,” he chortled. This wing thing was turning out to be a bit of alright.

Joan walked forward, clipped William over the back of the head and faced her younger self. “Happy?”

“Oy!” William responded, unhappily pouting. “He deserved it. He was having…um…naughty thoughts and she’s only bloody sixteen.”

“Oh, how would you know?” Buffy snapped in response and just like that the gravity of the situation became real. She cringed at the thought that everything she was thinking including all her very private little fantasies in relation to a completely biteable boyfriend were being shared with another. Joan was getting it all. And it so didn’t matter that she and Joan were basically the same person, ‘cause as far as she was concerned if she could see the other person then they had no business in her head. “Oh! No, no no no, we have to fix this right now. There is way too much sharing going on. Buffy thoughts need to be Buffy thoughts.”

Wolfie faced the older slayer. “It was easier at the start, right? When you first got here?”

“Yes,” Joan responded tightly. Her younger self was seriously becoming a pain in the ass.

“You placed a familial claim on William. Your mother and sister are part of that claim, but so is Buffy. Because the dimensions haven’t split yet, there is only one mother and sister. There is not meant to be two Buffy’s, so the claim you placed is overcompensating. The stronger it gets, the more obvious the memory changes and the emotions that come with those memories will become. If Buffy places a similar claim on Spike, it will balance out the claim. The memory changes will go back to being what they were, which was manageable for you. Buffy and Spike won’t need to be separated, and you will be able to focus on more important things,” Wolfie hastened to explain.

Joan prayed that her younger self would co-operate.

“What’s this familiar claim thing-y, Giles?” Buffy asked. It didn’t matter to her that there were probably at least four others in the room that could have answered her question. The Slayer asked her Watcher.

“Familial, Buffy,” he automatically corrected.

“Whatever,” Buffy waved her hand in dismissal.

Giles sighed in resignation. He reminded himself that, if Joan was any indication, at least his slayer would get a little more attentive in the future. Marginally. “The familial claim that Joan placed upon William is a simple incantation of a few words. It is non-invasive and non-violent. However, by accepting the claim William’s ties to his vampiric family were severed completely and new bonds were made with the Summers family. The Ritual itself is a precursor to a mating ritual. It is, for all intents and purposes, an engagement…of sorts.”

He allowed that little piece of information to sink in. “It is a serious step and not something to be rushed into lightly,” Giles told them, before shooting a slightly reproachful glare at Joan. “But, if you are both agreed that it is a necessary step to help Joan and William and not a firm commitment to mate later on, I can not see any reason why this would hurt either of you. Perhaps it would be best if the two of you did a quick patrol around the school while you discuss it?”

Both blonds shared a glance and nodded in agreement, silently moving as one to leave the library. Both deep in thought.

Buffy stopped walking, looked up at the stars and sighed deeply. She was out under the stars every single night, but she was hard pressed to remember the last time she had taken the time to really take in the beauty of the cloudless expanse. The stars truly were beautiful. Turning to her companion, she smiled. He was beautiful too.

“So, what do you think?” she asked lightly.

“I think this is gonna rely on you, luv. I was sold on the idea as soon as a claim was mentioned. But, then, I’m already thinkin’ that I’d prefer facing the sun than be without you,” he told her softly as he lifted a hand to ghost over her cheek.

As their eyes locked, Buffy felt the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach as it suddenly became harder to breath. Unconsciously, she stepped closer to him. As his lips drifted closer, she felt drawn. Endless moments passed until finally they met and Buffy saw stars exploding in celebration.

~*~*~

Wolfie approached the younger slayer as she sat on one of the benches in the student lounge and stared out through the windows into the night beyond the glass.

“Spike said you wanted to talk to me?” he offered hesitantly, a little unwilling to interrupt her musings.

Glancing over to the hovering Sasquatch, Buffy smiled and encouraged him to join her.

Gathering her thoughts together, the young girl thought about what she wanted to say before she tried putting it into words.

“I need you to explain something to me,” she started hesitantly.

“I’ll try,” he offered in return.

“I’ve been working on the new slayer vision-y thing, and when I walked into the library today, I saw something.” She closed her eyes, in an attempt to recapture what she had seen. “When the spell that Miss Calendar did started, Xander had this uber creepy darkness around him. It sorta got lighter during the meeting on Monday, but today it’s almost gone. And Spike was all glow-y, but his um, glow wasn’t just around him, it was kinda hovering around Xan…like it was protecting him or something.” Buffy opened her curious eyes and looked to the redhead for explanation.

Wolfie smiled; this he could answer.

“Your young friend was allowing his own jealousy to guide him. What he has learned over the last few days has changed his attitude. The lightening of the darkness he was being surrounded by shows us how far he has come. He’s a remarkable young man with a very bright future ahead of him…now.”

Buffy grinned. “So, he’ll be less with the touchage now?”

The redhead smiled enigmatically and nodded in agreement.

“And the whole Spike-in-protection mode?” she asked cheerfully. The explanation of her friend had relieved her considerablely.

“Exactly that. Spike is a very protective individual. He loves absolutely. He and Xander have bonded and now Spike’s demon considers your friend as ‘his’ to protect. He’s a lot like you in that respect.”

“Huh?”

“You love them all, so your aura hovers protectively over them all. Spike’s will too, given time to get to know the rest of your friends as he now knows Xander.”

Buffy’s smile lit up the room.

“I’ve been thinking about it and I just don’t understand,” Buffy said. Noting the look of confusion on his face, she was quick to elaborate. “Oh! Not about the whole Xander and the encroaching darkness thingy. I mean the memory thing. That, I don’t get. They’re from a different dimension or something, so why are their memories changing and how does this whole claim-y thing work? It just seems like a big step to take when we haven’t known each other very long. Not saying no,” she rushed to assure him. “But, you know…” she trailed off in confusion.

Wolfie regarded the miserable girl with sympathetic eyes. She was so very young. So much love to give to the world and yet unable to cope with the constant barrage of loss that life would throw her way, or, as in Joan’s case, had already thrown her way. He couldn’t help but believe that the introduction at this point in time of a loyal Spike might just make all the difference. She might still know heartbreak, but maybe now she wouldn’t have to go through it alone.

Taking a deep breath, the clear seeing Sasquatch attempted to clarify things for the confused slayer.

“I’ll try,” he told her, smiling. “You are the Buffy of Joan’s past. But Joan may not be the Buffy that you are to become. I want you to imagine that you are sitting at a desk and in front of you on the desk are an apple and an orange. You have four main choices; take an apple; take an orange; take neither; take both. Let’s say you choose the apple and move away, but when you look back, there is another Buffy facing the same four choices. This continues until there are four Buffys, each with a different choice. You look around and you notice that it’s not just Buffy that this is happening to, it’s everyone. Every time there are different possibilities, a new dimension is created. The Buffy that sat down at the desk originally is the past Buffy to the other four, but the Buffy she will become will be determined by her choices and the consequences of those choices.

“Joan’s choices so far have altered events already. They have affected your choices. And in turn, your choices affect Joan because you are her past. If you do anything differently than what she did when she was you, the new memories replace the old ones. However, when you reach the point in time where you choose the apple and she chooses the orange, the separation will be complete. She will continue on with her new timeline as will you with yours.”

“But Xander and Jonathan said that that was in about four years. Wouldn’t that also change if we’re changing events? You know; making different choices?” Buffy asked ingenuously.

Wolfie’s eyes shot wide open with the implications of her simple question.

“Shit!”

Buffy watched in amusement as the Bigfoot raced towards the library. She idly wondered if he would remember to return to her so they cold finish their talk.

~*~*~

“The circumstances have changed.” Wolfie spoke directly to Xander as soon as he re-entered the library.

“Huh?” Xander sensed this was important, but he was a little lost on the subject matter.

Wolfie took a deep breath; a much needed pause so that he could gather his chaotic thoughts. “The dimension that Joan and William are from wasn’t created until a certain number of other dimensions came into being first. But that’s all changed now. We have no idea how long it will take for the dimensions to split again.”

“How does this affect Joan and William?” Joyce demanded. One good look at her daughter and she knew that the older version of her Buffy needed to be first priority.

“Um…well, it’s potentially good news,” Xander replied with exaggerated zeal.

“Potentially?” William asked, eyebrow lifted in derision as he stubbornly clung to his knowledge that the whelp treated him like dirt and no visit down memory lane was going to stop that.

Xander and Spike shared a look, neither understanding the animosity that they both felt clearly coming from the pure vampire.

“Potentially, your dimension could split off at any time from now on.” Glancing quickly away from Joan, he told them the rest. “But it also means that you could be stuck here for longer than four years, too. There’s just no way to know for sure. We can probably come up with couple of theories, but nothing concrete.”

One look at Joan’s stricken face was enough to tell them all that leaving the situation as it was, was just not acceptable.

~*~*~

“Sorry about that,” Wolfie apologised to the little blond slayer as he returned to her side.

Buffy smiled before asking how her question had effected the situation.

“It means that Joan and William could either leave us at any time, or they could be stuck here for longer than four years.” Wolfie informed her honestly. He was of the opinion that the teenager was not one to be patronised.

“Oh! She’s so not gonna take that well,” Buffy responded sagely.

“No,” the representative from the Powers That Be replied sadly. “So, where were we?”

“Well, I think I’m covered with the whole dimension confusion, and I sorta get the memory thing, but not quite all up with the why it’s getting worse or anything to do with the claim. I don’t really get why it’s so important or what the difference is going to be or how it’s done.” Buffy blurted out with a rush. It was times like this that she really wished that she had more Willow-like smarts. Hell, she’d take Xander-like smarts at this stage…as long as she didn’t have to dress like him, that is.

“The problem is caused by a group of factors. The memories are just a part of it. The other parts are what you can help with by claiming Spike.” Wolfie tried to make it easier for the girl to understand. “As it stands, the claim that Joan placed on William is sort of amplifying all that’s coming from you and Spike. Everything that you’re saying or doing is being delivered to the both of them in surround sound and at aggravated levels.” The Sasquatch needed to ensure that she totally understood what her older self and the pure vampire were experiencing. “If this continues for too long, they will become so inundated with memories that they will end up in a coma-like state.”

Buffy’s horror was genuine. She silently berated herself for her complete self-absorption. She’d had no clue that things had been so difficult for the older couple. She had been too busy coping with the wigginess that was Angel and the total hotness that was Spike. The fact that they were apparently in deep trouble had never even crossed her mind.

~*~*~

“I claim you, Spike of Aurelius, in the name of the Summers women.” Buffy’s voice was strong and firm, drawing all eyes to her. Joyce and Dawn moved swiftly to her side and the three Summer’s women faced the gobsmacked vampire. “You are ours.”

His whispered “yours” echoed clearly through the room.

Joan sighed in relief, just before she fainted.

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