"So you're telling me that Merlin the Magician cast a spell and transported us all here?" Tara concluded, despite the enormity of the story she had just heard, it all seemed perfectly realistic. Giles nodded, "In a nutshell, that's what happened." he said. Willow returned to the table of the coffee bar with three fresh cups and carefully handed them out. "Oh." Tara said, "So how do we get back?" Both Willow and Giles opened their mouths to answer before realising that they had no idea how they would be getting back to Sunnydale, they looked at each other, open mouthed and confused, before closing their mouths noisily in surprise. "Well, we don't know for sure." Giles finally admitted. "I think our first priority should be to find the others and then we can work something out from there." Both Willow and Tara nodded, mirroring each other in their coffee drinking and causing Giles to smile. "So, is this it, a-a-are we the only ones you've found?" Tara asked, her familiar stutter returning to her voice. Willow smiled and unconsciously reached out and held Tara’s hand, "Giles thinks Buffy’s a vampire." she said proudly before realising in her excitement that she hadn't been particularly tactful. "I mean, I..." Giles smiled at her and squeezed her shoulder in a fatherly manner, "It's ok Willow," he said gently, "I do believe that Buffy is, indeed a vampire." Tara looked both confused and amused at this and Giles continued. "On one of our first outings to try and locate the others, we met a vampire whom I believe is, in fact, Buffy." He stated matter-of-factly. "But we still have no idea where Xander and Anya are or even if they're in this city." This final sentence hitting home with the others and the realisation that they have a long way to go before they can return to where, Giles informed them, they belong.
Silence hung in the air for many minutes, the only sounds coming from the hustle and bustle of the cafe and the occasional scraping of one of their cups. Willow finally broke the silence; "So why are we sitting here, we better start looking for the others." Her enthusiasm was infectious and soon they were collecting their things and heading out into the sunshine.
In his apartment, Alex was sitting in his lazy boy, watching basketball. Anya, the dog, wandered in from the garden and collapsed at his feet, panting heavily. "Hey Ahn." he said, patting her head without taking his eyes from the TV screen. "Stupid Knicks!" he complained as the final whistle blew sounding the end of the match. His stomach growled noisily and Anya looked up at him quizzically. "Time for doughnuts!" he stated, heaving himself out of the chair and heading towards the kitchen. After a brief searched, he discovered that there were no doughnuts so he closed the back door and pulled on his jacket. "See ya later Ahn." Alex called as he slammed the front door behind him and headed off towards the coffee bar.
Walking down the road, Alex found himself singing the song he'd heard on the radio that morning and he smiled to himself. On the opposite side of the road, a tall lithe woman walked alongside an older gentleman and they were deep in conversation, behind them a striking redhead followed. Alex was so engrossed in this woman that he failed to see the approaching lamppost and walked headlong into it, landing himself firmly on his butt. The trio over the road giggled at his comical accident, and the redhead seemed to be studying him. Without warning she crossed the road and was almost instantly by his side. She reached out her hand, offering him help; "You ok?" she asked with a smile. He nodded and took her hand, getting slowly to his feet. "Yeah, I guess. Kinda used to the embarrassment with all the practice and stuff." he said, a lopsided grin brightening his features.
The biggest grin he had ever seen spread across the woman’s face and she turned to her friends on the opposite side of the street. "Giles! Tara!" she called. "I got one!" the jubilation in her voice reminded Alex of the time he'd been fishing with his dad for the first time, he'd caught the smallest fish in the pond but his father had been so excited, jumping around and calling to his mother. The people known only as 'Tara' and 'Giles' stopped in their tracks and turned in unison before studying their friend and rushing across the road, causing a cyclist to wobble precariously. "Got a what?" he asked as the others joined them. "What’s going on?" Tara and Giles flanked Willow and looked at Alex closely. "You're Xander, right?" Willow asked him, "Alexander?" Xander nodded surprised that they knew his name. "You don't belong here." Giles told him, "You come from somewhere else." Xander watched him as he explain vaguely what had happened. "Ok Giles, how do we get back then?" he asked, resulting in huge grins from the others. Xander paused, looking at the others in total amazement. "I remember." he said finally, "I'd seen you in my dreams and memories." he continued gesturing towards Willow. "But now I remember, everything. Us, the Scoobies, Sunnydale. Where's Anya?" he finished, his question hanging expectantly in the air.
The others looked at each other, then looked back at him sadly. "We h-haven't found her yet." Tara replied, "but I'm sure it won't be long until we do!" she added when his face fell. He smiled weakly and nodded, the others continued their move down the street and Xander followed, his craving for doughnuts suddenly gone.
The surprise at literally stumbling across another member of the Scooby core in the middle of the street had lifted the spirits of the group and by the time they reached the main shopping area of town, they were all in high spirits, laughing and joking amongst themselves. "I'm hungry!!" Xander announced as they approached a pizza restaurant. Willow, still giggling from a joke she and Tara were sharing, turned and looked at him with mock surprise, "Really? That’s not like you!" she said, playfully punching him in the arm. The others laughed and Xander tried his best to look hurt. "Maybe dinner would be a good idea." Giles said as his stomach growled in agreement. As a group, they turned into the pizza parlour and were guided to a table as the sun set behind them.
The setting sun cast long pink shadows across the crypt, waking Buffy from her sleep. She rubbed her face and felt the familiar bumps of her vampire features. Somewhere in her mind, she felt comfortable but the initial sensation was that of absolute horror. "This is seriously wrong." she told herself, swinging her legs off the side of the bed and standing quickly. "I've got to find that guy, what was his name?" she asked herself, her sleep addled brain refusing to provide the answer. She pulled on some clothes and swung the door open just in time to watch the last hues of pink melt into the night. "Giles!!" she exclaimed as she stepped out into the night.
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