Willow collapsed on the bed and sighed. "Oh, goddess, the looks they were giving us."

"Well, I seriously doubt that *anyone* in 1886 England had ever seen an outfit like yours," I said, unbuttoning the jacket that came with the suit I had bought. We were lucky. Willow had her grandmother's cameo, and we sold it. It gave us enough money to find new clothes of the time, and a room for a couple of nights.

Willow sat up, glaring at me. "Like they had ever seen anything like what *you* wear!"

I know Willow Rosenberg, my best friend in the whole wide world, didn't just insult my clothes. "Hey!" I exclaimed. "What the hell is wrong with what I wear?"

Willow closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Nothing. Xander, we could be stuck here for a while. We need to get along."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Remain calm. . .remain calm. . .we are stuck in England, in 1886. Suddenly, it seemed funny. I would have loved to have had this opportunity in high school, in my history class. I started laughing uncontrollably.

"What is so funny?" Willow hissed, looking at me.

I spoke between laughter. "Wills, we've been friends since we were six." I sat on the bed next to her, after pulling my jacket off. I unbuttoned the first two buttons of my shirt. "We've been through my crazy shit. . .I mean, the whole *vampire* aspect of our life? Hyenas, burning at stakes, teachers who want to eat me, channeling military guys?" Never did I imagine that my life would end up like this.

Willow chuckled. "Vampires with souls. . ."

"Vampires with chips," I grinned. Spike wasn't that bad, but I had to throw him in there.

"And the Slayer. Who would have thought we'd be best friends to the Slayer?"

"And dating Cordelia! Who would have *ever* thought I would have dated Cordelia Chase?" I asked. "Hell! I was the treasurer of the 'We Hate Cordelia Chase' club!"

Willow chuckled. "And said Cordelia Chase is now working with Angel in LA!"

"Yea," I said, laying back. "And you are a witch. And because of that, we are now sitting in England, in 1886. And everyone thinks we are married." It was the best way to get one room without everyone thinking badly about us. I was amazed how easy the lie passed through my lips, that Willow was my wife.

Willow grinned an impish grin. "Yea, I know. To think, three years ago, I would have gone crazy to pretend to be married to you."

I looked down. I've always had a hard time with the feelings Willow once had for me. She always thought that I didn't know, but I did. I always knew. I just. . .I didn't want to ruin what we had. Willow knew me better than anyone in the world, and to think that a few kisses could have ruined that. . .she was too important for that. Willow cleared her throat, looking away from me. The blush on her cheeks was enough to tell that she hadn't thought before speaking.

"I'm. . .sorry," I said slowly, "that you had to sell your grandmother's cameo to get the money for clothes and a room to stay in." I was sorry about that, and for hurting her all those years.

Willow smiled. "That's fine," she said. "I'm just glad I had it. I never really liked it anyway. I'm surprised they gave us so much." Both of us were. I didn't think that the cameo was such a collector's item, at least not back in 1886.

"We just have to conserve until we can find a way home." I sighed. We were going to get home, I knew we were. We had to.

Willow lay back next to me. "Home. Never have I thought I'd be happy to see the Hellmouth."

I looked at Willow. I tried to hide the fear in my voice, but I knew that she could probably hear it. "We are going to make it home, aren't we?"

Willow smiled her brightest Willow smile. "Yea," she said. "I promise." I don't know why, but I believed her. I knew that if she set her mind to it, we would get home.

*-*-*-*

I tugged on Xander's hand. He was dragging his heels. We were walking down the street, trying to find a store that might pass as a magic shop. All I needed was a transportation spell. That was all I needed. I knew that I could get us home. We had to get home. I didn't think I could handle being stuck in 1886 London, England. There were no computers there!

"Willow," Xander hissed, "I'm not too keen on the idea of being out, past dark." He tugged on my hand, trying to pull me back towards the inn.

"Xander, we have stakes," I hissed. How bad could it be? We survived four years on the Hellmouth. We can survive a couple of days in a city away from the Hellmouth.

"But no Buffy," Xander replied, a look of pouting on his face.

I turned around in shock Sure, Buffy saved us most of the time, but I knew full well that we could do it without her. We could survive. We had to. I put my hand on my hip and cocked my head, with a touch of annoyance on my face. "Xander, we can do just fine without Buffy, and you know it."

Xander chewed his bottom lip for a moment, then sighed. "Yea, you're right. Automatic response, I guess."

"Come on! I bet there aren't any vampires here anyway!" I grinned, grabbing his hand. Yea, right. Like we could be that lucky.

"Woah, girl, remember? Scourge of Europe? Angelus and Spike? Ringing any bells?" Xander asked, rubbing his face. I could see that he'd been thinking about this for a while, and was truly concerned we'd meet the killers our friends used to be.

I stared at him, fear in my eyes. I hadn't given that much thought. There' s no way, it couldn't happen. Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla had to be far away from here. . .they couldn't be here in London when we were. "No. . .you don't think. . ."

"I'm sure, Willow, that they are somewhere else right now. Seriously. Now with all we've been through, why would the Fates put us in London in 1886 during the exact time that *they* were here? Even Fate isn't that cruel," Xander said. He gave me a comforting smile as my gaze drifted over his shoulder. My throat closed, my body froze, and I squeezed his hand in fear.

For there, behind Xander, were exactly who we didn't want to see. It was Angelus and Spike.