Title: The Changing of the Guard Series: A Way Out 1/7
Author: Written by memarkw, based an idea by Aristide.
E-mail: memarkw@yahoo.com
Spoilers: Some of the "past events" take place anytime
during the series, or may be happening in Season 7
according to entertainment articles.
Disclaimer: If you are reading this and think that these
characters are my own creation, you don't belong
here...it's all thanks to Lord Joss Whedon.
Rating: Mostly PG, although there are 3 or 4 swear words,
including one F-word, scattered about.
Special thanks to E James Burns, Bev, and MeB for catching
the little oopses...
_______________________________________________
1989, Somewhere in America
"Come with us!"
"No, it must be this way! Now go, child!" He pushed
her into the van and slammed the door behind her, at the
same time ducking, spinning and piercing the nonbeating
heart of the vampire that was right behind him.
Merrik watched the van as it sped away, then turned
back to the last two vampires. With moves rivaling any
slayer, past or present, he quickly finished
them. "Take care, my girl, take care," he whispered.
He picked up the slayer's bag and started walking in the
direction of home.
From the darkness, a glowing pair of emerald green
eyes followed his every step.
------------------------------------------------
FIFTEEN YEARS LATER
They sat on the porch swing, not really swinging,
just sort of swaying to and fro. The pair had been
through so much together. Buffy had almost lost her
friend. She didn't stop and think about the fact that her
friend had already lost her twice. But then again, if not
for her friends, the Slayer wouldn't be here now.
Buffy sighed and looked out across the street.
Things were slow. Not that she was complaining. She
liked having this time to catch up with Willow. The red
haired girl had just come back from England. She had
spent several months there, working with Giles.
After her journey into what they were now calling
"the dark side," she had returned to England with the
former watcher to learn how to control the magic that was
still within. She'd possessed so much darkness and such
great power. Giles was in contact with a coven which was
able to bind the darkness within her, to permanently
ensure that it could never again control her. Not even if
it was something she desired. The great power was another
story. She still possessed it, but it was totally under
control. The months with Giles tought her the things she
needed to know to possess the power safely. What Giles had
taught her was how to deal with the power without being
tempted to abuse it or go back to the evil side of it.
The lessons worked. For the first time since
discovering her ability, she was fully in total control.
Tara would have been proud.
"Yeah...she would have."
Buffy turned to Willow. "Would have what?"
"Oh, sorry. I wasn't reading you. It just kind of
came to me. Not exactly what you were thinking, more of
an idea of it. You thought that I would have pleased Tara
with what I have done since...well, you know."
"Kind of. I thought she would be proud of you."
"It's good to be home."
Buffy put her arm around her best friend. "It's good
to have you back. Are you sure you're going to be ok with
your old room?" She paused, giving Willow a moment to
reconsider. "I really don't mind switching with you."
"No, I'm ok. I know, that's where she died. The
other memories outweigh that, though. I still feel her in
there, you know?"
"Yeah. When it's really warm, I can walk into the
kitchen and feel my mom in there, taking cookies out of
the oven, telling me all about the show she just watched
on TV."
"Buffy?"
"Hmm?"
"Why is that van just sitting there?" She pointed to
the vehicle across the street, the one that Buffy had been
watching."
"Good question. I was just thinking things were slow
around here."
"Surely Jonathan and Andrew aren't back in town, up
to their old tricks. If they are, I'll..." She took a
deep breath and passed her hand in front of her face to
calm herself down. "If they are, I'll offer them lemonade
- after I spit in it." The thought of it made her smile.
The slayer chuckled. "No, it's not them. The last
time I heard from Jonathan, they were in San Francisco.
Something about Andrew not denying what he was. You know,
I kind of miss Jonathan. He wasn't such a bad guy."
The young witch looked at Buffy as though she had
lost her mind. Buffy realized what she had just said. "I
mean, except for the almost killing us all...causing the
end of the world...trying to drive me nuts...framing me
for murder - oh hell, you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I know."
Buffy stood up and stretched. "Well, time to see
what's up with whoever that is."
"Want me to come with?"
"Nah, I'll be right back."
"Be careful."
"Me? Willow, I'm shocked!"
"Yeah, yeah, and you wonder where Dawn gets it from.
I'll go start lunch."
As Buffy crossed the street, she started psyching
herself up for battle. She was just a little disappointed
when a woman opened the door of the old Chevy and jumped
out. The first thing Buffy noticed about the woman was
the way she carried herself- something about it reminded
her of Faith, almost like she was "five by five," on some
kind of quest. Not just her style or her clothes, but her
whole demeanor. The similarty ended there, though. She
appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties,
There was something about the look in her eyes. It
reminded Buffy of her mother- the look Joyce gave when she
was worried, but didn't want to let it show. The woman
tried to smile at Buffy, but didn't do a very good job
of it.
"Hi. I was just trying to figure out how to
introduce myself before your curiousity got to you. Guess
I was too late."
"Yeah, I guess you were. Who are you?"
"That's a long story. I got this letter in the mail
the other day. It belongs to you."
Buffy took the letter. It was dated almost nine
years earlier. She looked at the woman again. "Who are
you?"
"My name is Laura Warren. I need your help. The
letter explains it."
"I'm sure it does, but why don't you just tell me
what you need me for?"
"My daughter is missing. Only the Slayer can help me
find her."
Buffy was stunned. This Laura person knew who she
was, knew about the slayer. For something that was
supposed to be such a big secret, there sure were a lot of
people who knew her so-called secret identity. "How-"
Laura interrupted. "My daughter is a slayer, or will
be, just like you. Just like I once was."
"What? Look, whoever you are, there's NO way you
were EVER a slayer. If you were you'd be-"
"Dead?"
"Well, yeah..."
"I was, and I'm not."
Buffy stepped up to the woman. "The only way for a
slayer to stop slaying is to die."
"No, it's not. There's another way. That's why I
need your help."
Buffy couldn't believe what she had just heard.
Another way out of slaying and Giles had never told her?
It wasn't possible.
"Buffy, please, Merrik told me that I could count on
you."
"How do- did you know Merrik?"
"He was my watcher. He helped me get out of the
hands
of the Council."
Some gut feeling told Buffy to believe this woman.
She had a feeling that something big was about to be
unearthed. "Will!" she called out, "Set another place.
We have company."
_________________________________________
Buffy and Willow sat,neither of them saying a word,
watching Laura finish her soup. Willow was silent because
something was obviously wrong with Buffy.
Buffy was silent because she couldn't believe that
there was a way out of slaying and that Giles had never
mentioned it. When this was over, she seriously planned
to hop a flight to England to confront him. No, this
might just be some kind of prank. She'd just have to wait
and see. The stranger that was eating across from her
might have some reason for doing this. It'd better be
good.
Finally, the presumed former slayer finished her
meal.
"I'm sorry. Since John disappeared, I haven't eaten
much. When Marika went missing, I kind of forgot about
eating altogether."
Willow stood up and took the soup bowl. She walked
to the sink. "John? Marika?" she asked.
"John is my husband, Marika is our daughter."
Buffy hesitated, thinking it had to be an odd
coincidence, but she asked the question anyway. "Merrika?
As in Merrik with an A?"
Laura nodded. "Actually, it's M-a-r-i-k-a, but yes,
as in."
Willow sat back down, having dried and put away the
bowl. She looked at Buffy. "Wasn't Merrik yo-"
Buffy interrupted with the answer. "My first
watcher,
yes."
Willow sat back, confused. "Oh."
Buffy leaned forward, resting her elbows on the
table. "I really don't mean to sound rude, but start
talking. Tell me how you knew Merrik, how you got a
letter written to me nine years ago, and why you are just
now delivering it."
Laura did the opposite of Buffy, leaning back and
crossing her arms. "Ok, but I'm warning you, this is a
VERY long story."
Buffy looked at Willow, who nodded her head slightly.
"Go ahead, we're not going anywhere."
"Sixteen years ago, on my fifteenth birthday
actually, a man stopped me when I was on my way home from
school...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Laura looked up at the stranger. He looked vaguely
familiar, but she couldn't place him. He was walking
directly towards her. Just as he reached her, she
remembered where she had seen him. He had been standing
outside the shoe store last week, looking in the window
while she shopped.
"Excuse me. I know you don't know me and I beg your
forgiveness, but I have something to tell you that won't
wait. I've never been good at this. I really don't know
how to say this, except to just tell you. Into each
generation, a slayer is born. One girl with the..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For a moment, two voices spoke the same words - Buffy
and Laura, recalling the owrds once spoken to them by a
long dead watcher. "strength and skill to hunt the
vampires,"
Laura stopped as Buffy finished. "to stop the spread
of evil, blah blah. I've heard it. More than once. And
the last time I heard it, I was MADE to understand that I
cannot escape my destiny. That's why I find it a little
hard to swallow, what you told me out there."
"I know," Laura said, "I was made to understand the
same thing. Please let me finish before you interrupt me
again. This is hard enough for me to talk about. I need
your help, but if you don't want me here, I'll leave."
She stood up and turned to leave.
Buffy stood, reached across the table, and grabbed
the woman by the sleeve. "I - I'm sorry. Please. I'll
listen without anymore interruptions."
Willow let out a small laugh. She looked up as she
realized that the other two females were staring at her.
"Oh, sorry. I just meant...well, I meant...Ha! Buffy
can't listen without interrupting. It's just not you,
Buffy."
The slayer glared at her friend. "I will this time,"
she said, with emphasis on THIS. "Let's go in
the living room."
Willow and Laura followed Buffy, the former two
sitting on the couch, the latter pulling up a chair
across from them. Laura continued.
Laura continued. "Anyway, this guy turned out to be
our mutual friend, Merrik."
Buffy interrupted, with a guilty look at Willow.
"I'm sorry. I know I said I wouldn't, but I just need to
say that he and I weren't actually friends. I don't know
what you would call it. I cared for him when he...when
they got him, but we never actually got to know each
other. Sorry, I just had to get that out there. I never
really got to know him. We weren't together very long."
Willow wanted to say "I told you so," but it didn't
seem appropriate when someone was talking about the dead.
Laura waited until it was clear that they were
waiting for her. "Ok. I got it. Let me tell you
something. If he had lived, you would have loved him. He
would've become like a father to you. He would've never
let you down if he could help it. He would've put his
life on the line for you. He did it for me more than
once. That's what this is about, kind of."
Buffy thought about what Laura was saying and thought
of Giles. She missed him so much. She understood what
Laura was saying. If Merrik had lived, she wouldn't have
found Giles. Would the relationship with Merrik have been
like the one with Giles?
"Anyway, I thought he was nuts. But a couple of
nights later, I was attacked. I stayed late at the pizza
place where I hung out. I was about half way home. Two
creatures grabbed me from behind. One of them said
something about being glad that I had denied my destiny.
I saw the faces, I saw the teeth, I felt one of them pull
my head back, and I felt the teeth on my neck. I still
didn't realize what was happening.
"I never believed in monsters. Not even as a kid.
And Dracula never came after his victims the way these
things were attacking me. I was about to use my head, to
head-butt one of them backwards. But when my head reached
what should have been face, there was nothing there. I
felt something hit me in the back though. I turned around
to find a stake on the ground at my feet, and ash blowing
in the wind. The second creature was running away.
"I looked up and saw that man, Merrik, pull out
another stake and throw it at the thing that was running.
I watched the thing disintegrate right in front of me.
Needless to say, I freaked out. I think what I actually
said was 'gag me with a spoon.' It was kind of gross.
"Anyway, Mer said 'That's what you were born to
protect people from.' He told me to come with him so he
could explain some more. I hesitated, but he had just
saved my life. When I hesitated a moment longer, he told
me to close my eyes and feel it. So I did. And as he
described it, I could feel the power corsing through my
body, the strength.
"I still don't know how, but I sensed something and
threw my hands upward and outwards, like this -" The
former slayer demonstrated as she spoke, "and opened my
eyes. I couldn't believe it. This guy had just threw
one of those wooden sticks at me. I mean, really threw
it, like to kill me. And I stopped it. I felt it coming
at me and I protected myself.
"As much as I wanted to run, I knew that he was
telling me the truth, and so I went with him. You can
pretty much fill in the next part. About how I trained
with him, fought him, denied what I was, resented it,
tried to live a normal life, and always came back to him
and slaying.
"This is where our stories go their own ways.
Obviously, you're good at what you do. You're what? 19?
20? And you're still alive. Or should I say alive
again?"
It was apparent that Buffy was trying so hard not to
say anything. Laura grinned and told her to go ahead.
"I was born in 1981. I'm twenty-three. And you know
about, um, being alive again?"
"You don't look that old. And yes, I do know. But I
will get to that later. I really did grow to love Mer
like my own dad. See, I was living in foster homes. The
guy that was the sperm donor for my mom, walked out before
I was born. My mom tried to do good by me, but when I was
four, she turned to tricks. One of them hurt her. She
died in the hospital. I grew up going from whichever home
to whichever home the state saw fit to put me in.
"I think that's why I didn't trust Mer at first, he
reminded me of some beuracrat. But a litle over a year
later, I trusted him with my life. With my unborn baby's
life."
She was looking down at the coffee table as she said
the last part. She looked up at her hosts. "I had been
seeing this guy for almost as long as I had been slaying.
John. Mer tried to keep me from it, going on about how
important it was to keep my secret, but I was sixteen by
then. I was a young woman and I was in love. You know
how it is, don't you? Did you have a boyfriend that your
watcher tried to talk you out of? Of course you did, all
slayers do. We are women, after all. But he was the only
thing fixed in my life. I mean the only thing that was a
constant fixture. Besides Merrik.
"So, although he wasn't happy about it, Merrik gave
in. John started patrolling with me. He got to be good at
it.
"You know how the council pulls strings every once in
awhile to have things their way? They did that for me.
Got me out of government care. They thought I was living
with Mer, but I was sharing an apartment with John. Not
sharing, we didn't get paid for slaying back then -"
"Still don't."
"- and John paid for everything. He took care of me
when I wasn't actually slaying. Things happened and I
ended up pregnant.
"Mer flipped. I never saw him lose it like that
before or after. In the end, he was there for me. He
didn't tell the council. He just got all of these old
books and started researching. It wasn't his style.
Supposedly watchers are researchers, but he liked hands
on. His place was stacked to the ceiling with books,
trying to find out what to do with a pregnant slayer.
Every once in a while, he'd come across a book on
childbirth and child care that John had snuck in. He
really liked Mer and loved teasing him. He thought it was
so funny to sneak those books in there with all of Mer's
ancient writings.
"As far as Mer knew, a slayer getting pregnant had
never happened before. He was wrong.
"Late one night, he came across a very small entry in
a Slayer's journal. The way I understood it is that this
entry was written before the Watcher's Council took
control of the slayers. Anyway, it was in this little
journal entry, the one thing the Council never planned on.
All it said was that she, the Slayer, had lost her
abilities as she entered her third month of pregnancy and
a new slayer had come to her for guidance.
"Mer had never heard this story. He talked to one of
his allies on the Council. She had never heard the story
either, but it was written in the journals. It was an
established procedure.
"We tried to keep my pregnancy a secret until it got
in the way of slaying. Somehow, the Council found out.
Merrik confronted them with the history. They were
infuriated. How dare anyone try to dictate to them what
was acceptable or not. They could not argue with their
own books though.
"One night, just before we were ready to give up my
right to the title of slayer, Mer got word from his lady
friend that the Council planned to have me killed so that
a new slayer could be called naturally without the secret
being discovered. They just couldn't have anymore slayers
finding out about this way out of their duty.
"Mer called in some favors and arranged for John and
I to be married. On our wedding night, he had John drive
us to an empty field. In that van out there, as a matter
of fact. I didn't know why, but I went along. Sometimes
I still regret it.
"We all climbed out of the van. I was startled when
he hugged me. I knew he loved me, but he had never shown
affection like that. He simply told me that what must be
done was done and that this van was one of his wedding
gifts to us. He told us that he wanted us to get in that
van and just drive away. To not look back.
"He went on and told me that I was supposed to be
killed and that he wasn't going to let that happen. He
told me to get in the van and go. John did. He walked to
the driver's side and climbed in. I couldn't though. I
argued with Mer.
"While we were arguing, some vamps came out of
nowhere. I wanted to fight, but Mer threw open the door
and pushed me up and into the passenger seat. I tried to
get out. John wouldn't let me. He just tried to comfort
me and told me that Mer could handle himself. The last
time I saw Mer, he had just dusted one of the vamps.
"But before I was forced into the van, Mer pushed an
envelope into my pocket and told me to open it when we got
wherever 'this' got us where it took us.' The THIS was a
wad of cash. When I counted it later, there was over
$7,000.
"The note simply told me that he was proud of me. It
talked about the council's plans to be rid of me. He
said to go where we couldn't be found and to send him a
postcard. He said not to put anything on the card, just
drop it in a mailbox with a stamp and then pick up and
leave to go somewhere else. He couldn't impress on us
enough that we were to keep moving until I heard from him.
How he planned on getting in touch, I never knew, but I
had learned not to question him.
"A couple of months later, I did just what he said.
I sent him a card. I never heard form him again until I
got the letter.
"Right after Marika's sixth birthday, I got this
letter. I remember getting it, because I recognized the
handwriting and thought he was sending a card for his
namesake. Here's the letter. Read it." With that, she
handed the letter to Buffy.
'My dearest girl,
I am so glad to find you well. I think of you
often and am always pleased to hear that you are well or
that Marika has done something sweet. I am amazed that
you would name your daughter for me, but it is indeed an
honor.
I never told you, but I loved you as my own
daughter. Of course, to tell you then would have
jeopardized your learning.
I fear my time on this earth is drawing near. It's
not an explainable feeling, but I feel compelled to
contact you and make arrangements.
There may come a time when you need me. I will
know it and I will be there. If the time comes and you do
not hear from me, assume I am gone. If this happens, I
urge you to search out the current slayer. Unless I am
mistaken, that slayer will be a beautiful young lady named
Buffy Ann Summers. If that time does come, you are to
give her this second letter, which I have enclosed under
seperate cover.
This girl reminds me of you in many ways. She can
be much more beligerant than you ever were, but she is
good. To be honest, I feel that she will be known in the
future as THE slayer. There is something about her. It
is unexplainable.
I realize that this letter is full of
unexplainable things, however I feel that you will
understand me.
As this may be the last contact we have, let me
tell you again - I love you. You have always made me
proud.
Oh, you may be wondering - how did I keep the
Watcher's Council from you? I used their own plan.
Obviously, I succeeded in ridding the world of the
creatures that attacked us that night. I simply told the
Council that we were attacked and that while I was
fighting one of the ungodly beasts, you were fighting two
of them. I am sure that you will be saddened by this, but
with my hands full, the other two were able to overcome
you and feed off of you. To add injury to insult, they
made you feed from them. I was unaware of this. As I
cradled your dead body, you woke and attacked me. Much to
my own grief, I was forced to put a stake through your
heart.
So, my dead undead daughter, I close. Be kind to
life.
Yours forever,
M'
Buffy swallowed hard. She couldn't let tears come.
Not yet. She needed the rest of the story. She pulled
out her own letter and started to open it. Her heart was
beating fast, her plams were sweating.
"Buffy? Would you mind if I finish my story before
you read that?"
She thought about it for a split second and put the
letter back in her pocket. "Go on."
"I was shocked to get that from him. Except for one
card with a baby picture in it, I had never written or
sent him anything. Well, we settled down outside of a
small town in Texas. Victoria, Texas. Life was good for
years. Marika was growing up, not a clue that we were
hiding from anyone.
"One day she came home and wanted to know if vampires
were real. That scared me more than anything I've ever
encountered. All I could think was that they found us.
She said that some man just walked up to her and said to
watch out for vampires.
"We left that night. Drove around the country for
seven weeks. We ended up in a small navy town in Nevada.
Fallon. We stayed there until John disappeared. I woke
up one morning and he was gone. Did I tell you we were
living in a small trailer, pulling it around behind our
van? That morning, he was gone. The door had been forced
open. Nothing else was disturbed and Marika was sound
asleep.
"That was fourteen months ago. I tried to contact
Mer then, but I found out that he had died. I remembered
the letter and looked for you. It didn't take long to
find out that you were in Sunnydale. When I got here
though, I found out that you were dead, too. Well, you
were here, but somehow you weren't. I saw you with your
friends one night, but the town was over run by vamps and
demons. I figured that it wasn't really you, that if you
were as good as Mer said, then there wouldn't be that many
creatures in this town.
"I read some old newspapers and found out you had
been in an accident. That you had fallen from the top of
a construction site or something. I put two and two
together and figured something had happened to you and
that your friends were pulling some sort of magic on
people to hide your death. I felt like there was nowhere
else to go.
"I didn't know how to explain to Marika about John
being gone. Remember that she was forteen at that time.
Out of the blue, she asked me if it had something to do
with that man and the vampires and the changes she was
going through.
"Again, I was scared more than ever. I asked her
what changes and she described what she felt, exactly what
I had felt fifteen years before, when Mer found me. And
it was then that I knew. A slayer had died. I figured it
was you. A little research showed me that there was
another slayer, a true slayer I guess you'd say, in prison
in Los Angeles. I was really surprised to find out that
you were more of a substitute slayer, but what concerned
me more was that Marika was being called to replace you
when you weren't THE Slayer. That shouldn't have
happened. If she was to be the next slayer, which I would
fight with my last breath, it wouldn't happen until the
one in jail was dead.
"Anyway, I told her this story. She accepted it much
more easily than I ever did. She was excited about it.
So, to keep me sane, more than any other reason, we ran
again. We've been running every since.
"Last week, I was awakened in the middle of the night
by the silence. It was wrong. When I went in the living
area - that's where she sleeps - she was gone. I looked
for her for three days. I couldn't go to the police
because I was afraid the council would find out, if they
didn't already know. That's when I decided to find YOUR
watcher.
"I got here yesterday and discovered that all of
those vamps and demons were gone again. That part, I
couldn't figure out. You were dead, weren't you?"
When Buffy nodded, Laura continued. "I went to the
library and looked you up in the computer. I thought that
if there was any mention of you, that there would be
mention of your friends. I hoped that they could give me
information, that if they didn't really know your secret,
then maybe they could at least give me some clue as to who
your watcher would be. And I found out that you had a
sister. I actually came here to see her, to see if she
could tell me about your watcher. That's when I saw you
on the porch with Willow. I was working up my courage to
approach you, to figure out how you could be here - oh
hell, I don't know. You are really you, aren't you?"
Buffy nodded again. "Yeah, I'm me. I don't have a
watcher anymore. Well, I do, but he doesn't watch me.
He's in England."
"Oh."
"Can I read my letter now?"
"Yeah."
Sunnydale's secret champion opened her letter and
started reading. No one spoke while she read.
'Buffy -
If you are reading this, you may safely assume
I am dead, just as I posthumously assume that you are
still the slayer.
The woman that is giving you this letter
holds a very special place in my heart. She was my third
slayer, and it was because of my love for her that she was
almost my last. She will tell you the story, I am sure.
I am writing this to ask that you do
everything in your power, and that of your watcher,
to help Laura.
I want you to know that I cared a great deal
for you. Had I not died, I think it is safe to say that
we would have grown close. I saw great potential in you,
potential that I have seen in no other, not even my dear
Laura.
I am proud of what you are going to become.
Be kind to life.
From my heart,
Merrik'
Buffy was silent for a moment. She looked at Laura
and wiped a tear from her eye, and Laura did the same.
Buffy took Laura's hand in her own and told the former
slayer to tell her anything that might help them figure
out what had ahppened to John and Marika.
Willow stood up. "I'll get us something fresh to
drink."
While they sipped their tea, Laura told Buffy
everything she could think of that might help. Buffy was
stumped, however. "Honestly, I've never been good at this
detective stuff. I just don't know what to do."
"I do," Willow offered.
Buffy raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Good grief, Buffy! You know what to do. Call
Giles."
Without a word, Buffy stood, walked to the phone, and
began dialing the overseas number.
_______________________________________
Three days had come and gone since Giles had received
the call from Buffy. He managed to book the first
flight to LAX the moment the connection with her had been
terminated.
According to his source within the inner sanctum of
the Council, Laura Warren was long dead. As far as the
source knew, the Council has no operations which involved
finding anyone involved with the supposedly dead Slayer.
The former Watcher walked down the stairs to find
Buffy pacing restlessly. When she noticed him standing
there, she stepped up to him.
"Giles, are you sure? How do you know you can trust
this person? This so-called source of yours? She IS on
the Council."
Rupert sighed. Placing a hand on Buffy's shoulder,
he led her to the sofa. "Buffy, I've repeated this more
than once. I trust her implicitly. I know you don't
belive me, but not every member of the Council is so
bad. A few are downright decent chaps. Or ladies, as it
were. If Amberly says the Council isn't involved, they
aren't involved."
"If you say so. I hate this - this sitting here just
doing nothing. I should have gone with Willow and Laura
to get the trailer."
"Buffy, sit down. Wearing a hole in the carpet isn't
going to solve anything."
She hadn't even realized that she had moved from the
couch, or that she was walking back and forth again.
"I can't get over the fact that if I get pregnant, I
lose my abilities."
"I never met Merrik. From what I understand, he was
an upright fellow. However, we can't just believe what
Laura has told us. Not that I think she's lying to us, of
course, but we need to see that particular journal for
ourselves."
"So, get it. I'm the Slayer," she stopped moving and
placed her closed fists on her hips. "You're my Watcher.
Watcher's research and my Watcher has priority. Get the
journal."
"I'm afraid it's not that-that simple. We don't
know which journal he found it in. All we know is that it
was supposedly before the Council existed. That means we
have to find a journal that is well over a thousand years
old. I just don't know how to explain that to the Council
without them asking dangerous questions."
"So, call your friend - this Amberly person."
"Buffy-"
"No! Call her! I want to know what's happening,
why so many girls died without knowing that there was a
way out of this...this...THIS!" The Slayer threw her hand
upwards and outwards wtih her exclamation.
"I was going to say that I just got off the phone
with-with Amberly. She is going to express several
journals from pre-Council years."
"Did you tell her what we're looking for?"
"No, but she did ask if I was looking for the
journal of the slayer who had given birth."
"What?! How?"
"Amberly is much older than I, Buffy. She's been a
member of the Council for nearly half a century."
"And you think-"
"No. I know it. She was the acquaintance that
Merrik referred to. She said that she hadn't thought of
that journal since Merrik researched it."
"Wow," Buffy exhaled as she fell onto the couch.
There's a... connection now, huh?"
"It would seem so. I have to say, though, that I
don't like the way that you are handling this."
"What?"
"You act as if though you've just discovered a secret
cure for a disease. It's not that simple. Do you think
that if it's true, you can just run out and-and-and find
some young man to impregnate you? Just so you can stop
slaying?"
The Slayer was silent. What Giles had just accused
her of hit her like a ton of bricks. She hadn't realized
it, but she WAS a little excited about the fact that she
could get out of slaying by getting pregnant. Now that
she thought about it though, it was crazy. She could
never have a baby just to get her out of a situation. She
wasn't that kind of person. Was she? No!
Giles put an arm around her. "We'll find Laura's
husband and Marika. Once that is done, we'll look into
this whole pregnancy thing."
Buffy was about to reply when they heard a loud
engine outside. Peering throught the curtain, she saw
that Laura and Willow had returned.
Willow was pulling her overnight bag from the back of
the van when her friend reached around her and grabbed it.
Willow turned to give Buffy a hug.
"What a boring drive! That little town they were
living in is so...boring."
"Yeah, well, try sitting on your hands for three
days."
Giles was already examining the little motorhome.
Just as Laura had said, there were signs that the door had
been forced open. He could see where she had done some
repair work so that it would lock again. He noticed a
small metallic shimmer just behind the door handle. He
pulled a small roll of surgical tape from his pocket,
unaware of the looks he received from the females present,
and placed it over the area where he had seen the shimmer.
A few seconds later, he entered the trailer. It was
quite...cozy. He was standing in a combination kitchen
-living area. At his left elbow was a small sink.
Directly next to the sink was a small stove. No more
than two steps across from the stove was a tiny
refrigerator. An empty countertop, no more than eighteen
inches square, was next to the fridge, across from the
sink.
To his right was a small seat that one would assume
served as a sofa, with an identical seat across from it.
Situated between the two was a table that seemed to fold
downwards if the table leg was pushed upwards. On the
table were a small television and stereo. Roughly three
feet above the table was a sleeping area of some sort.
It was a small mattress with a homemade shelf, on which
sat an extremely small lamp, clock, and book. The book
was laid on the shelf, open-faced down. There was a drape
of sorts at one end of the bed which apparently was drawn
lengthwise for semblance of privacy.
Towards the back end of the kitchen area, on the
other side of the fridge, was a door, which he assumed led
to the bathing area. Opening the door, he found his
assumption to be correct. There was a small toilet with
just enough room to sit and place one's feet in front of
himself. From this sitting postition, one could reach
across to wash one's hands in a small sink, or reach up
to adjust a shower head. It seemed as though one would
shower in this sitting postion.
Across from the bathing area door, was a small
closet. There was a partition pulled across the small
corridor. Opening the plastic partition, he found a bed.
It was the entire width of the small trailer, and appeared
to be a foot shorter in length than the average adult
height.
He turned around and went back to the sitting area.
He sat down and wondered how any person could live like
this, much less three people.
"You do what you have to do for the safety of your
child, Mr. Giles."
Startled, and ashamed that he had been caught
thinking out loud, he turned to face Laura. "I'm-I'm
sorry. I didn't mean to voice that question. I certainly
don't mean to sound judgemental."
"It's OK. I understand. I thought the same thing
when I first saw it. After the first day, I just wanted
to cry. After the first week, I started getting the hang
of it. After the first month, we were moving around in
here like pros. Like I said, you do what you have to do
for the safety of your child."
"Yes, I suppose one does at that." He thought of the
reasons why he'd left Sunnydale.
"So, what do we do now?"
The tone of her voice reminded him of his own slayer.
He was perplexed. Here was a woman who had been a
slayer. She hadn't died, she had found herself with
child. She was still alive. It meant that there was a
way out for Buffy. He was ashamed of himself, thinking
that. It wasn't right. How much longer could Buffy
continue before she was killed, though? The next
time...well, the next time, there would be no bringing her
back. If this whole mess ended up revealing a way for
Buffy to quit slaying, he was going to do his damnedest to
find it.
He let his eyes wander lazily, not looking for
anything, while he thought. Another metallic shimmer
caught his eye. It was on the floor near the entrance
to the trailer; there was another near the bathing area.
It didn't look like blood, but the pattern made him think
that was exactly what it might be. He pulled out the
tape and took a sample from each of the spots.
Buffy had poked her head into the trailer, just in
time to see her friend pulling tape from the floor.
"Whatcha doing?"
"If my suspicion is correct, this is blood of some
sort. It could give us an idea as to who or what caused
John to disappear."
Laura sighed. "It's been a long time. I can't
belive I didn't notice that."
Buffy tried to ease the burden. "Don't worry about
it. I miss stuff like that all the time."
Giles stood up and pushed his way past the Slayer-the
current Slayer. He approached Willow, who was on her
way back to the van from the house.
"Willow, can you test this? I think it's a demon
blood. I'd appreciate it if you would analyze it and
compare it to all known demon bloods. If we can figure
out what it came from, perhaps we can pinpoint the
location of the creature that left that for us."
Willow shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, that's what I'm
here for. Trusty Willow here to research. Maybe I
should be a watcher?"
Giles gave Willow a look that Buffy recognized. It
was one that he gave Buffy when she did or said something
that he wanted kept secret or that she herself shouldn't
know.
Laura walked came out of the trailer and asked Buffy
if she could park the trailer in the driveway and hook up
the electricity.
"Why?" the younger woman asked.
"I'm thinking of calling it an early night."
Buffy laughed. "No, you can't park it and hook it
up."
"Oh."
"You can park it, but you don't need electricity.
You're staying in the house."
"I can't. I wouldn't want to take anyone's bed."
"You can have Dawn's room. How convenient that my
dad decides to play Father-of-the-Year this summer, huh?
Dawnie's gone till the end of August."
"What about Mr. Giles?"
"He's got Will's room. She's sharing with me.
Really, it's no problem."
"Well, if you're sure..."
Giles took Laura's arm. "She's sure. Come on. I
could use a bite to eat."
Laura pulled away from the Watcher, gently. "I need
to grab some things from inside and lock up first."
Buffy and Giles waited for Laura to do the things she
needed to do. After about fifteem minutes, she stepped
out of the trailer and locked the door behind her.
As they entered the house, Willow ran down the
stairs. "I found it! It was a lot easier than I thought
it'd be! It's a Greunzyk Slith."
Giles stopped short. "Oh, dear." He took off his
glasses and started to clean them with his handkerchief.
You're sure of that?"
Willow looked insulted. "Yeah, I'm sure. You can
double check if you want."
"No, it's quite alright. I'll take your word for
it." He put the glasses back on his face, pushing them
up. Again, he said "Oh, dear."
"Oh, dear?" Buffy and Laura asked.
"Oh, dear. The Greunzyk Slith is part demon, part
warlock. It feeds on memories. It's not usually an
aggressive creature, though. It feeds in small doses
from unconcious victims. The effect is similar to that of
a drunken blackout. The fact that one of them forced its'
way into the motor home and was injured indicates that it
was aggressive. We need to find out where they are."
"But, how do we do that? Just go up to each and
every one we meet and ask it if it attacked John?" Laura
demanded of Giles.
"No, finding them should be fairly simple. They are
not great in numbers. I believe it is safe to say there
are only about thirty or forty in existence at one time.
They tend to reproduce at the same rate they pass away.
The good part is that they travel in large packs. Right
now there are only two such packs known in the country."
Buffy raised her eyebrows. "You know this how?"
Giles looked at her sheepishly. "The Council has me
updating books and records. Some creatures are kept
under watch, as they tend to come in...handy...at times."
Buffy put up a hand. "Don't tell me anymore. That
alone makes me think that they aren't going to be happy
to deal with us. I mean, if the Council REQUESTS their
assistance at times, these Gretzky Sloths aren't going
to be volunteering. I know how the Council works. Demons
do it the the way the Council wants it done or the Council
decides the demon dies."
Willow spoke up. "Laura, are you sure you don't
remember anything about John disappearing?"
"Just what I told you. Why?"
"Well, if a Greunzyk Slith," she looked at Buffy,
trying to send a message that the Slayer had pronounced
it wrong, "feeds like Giles says, then it's possible you
saw what happened to John. What if the Slith fed off of
you that night to remove your memories of it?"
*************
Giles' determined the Slith hadn't fed from
Laura due to the fact she'd remembered everything from
the time she went to bed, her dreams, and the moment she
woke up. Had she been fed from, she would not have
remembered the dreams, much less going to bed.
The small group spent the next day tossing around
ideas. They were getting nowhere fast. Buffy spoke up
with authority.
"Giles, call the Council. If you won't, I'll call
Cordy. She can get the number for me. Find out where
exactly this Sloth - Slith colony is and let's pay it a
visit."
"Buffy, I don't think-"
"Don't think. Do." With that, she turned and headed
upstairs to start packing. Within the half hour, Giles
joined her.
"Well, it would appear as though the Slith haven't
moved for awhile. They're outside of a small town in
Nevada. Silver Springs, Nevada."
"Let me guess. This Silver Springs is really close
to Fallon, or wherever Laura was when John disappeared."
"Yes."
"So, that means that if they did have something to do
with John's disappearing, it wasn't malicious."
"Um, that's right. How did you-"
"I've had to do a lot of thinking for myself the last
year and a half or so."
Rupert didn't miss the acussatory tone in her voice.
She hadn't entirely forgiven him for leaving. "Buffy,
before I go home, to England, we're going to have a-a
talk."
"I don't think we need to-"
"We WILL have a talk. I'm going to see if the others
are ready. I'll meet you down stairs." He turned and
left in a hurry.
Buffy sighed. She loved him. He knew he loved her.
He never fully realized what his leaving had affected her.
He could say he did all he wanted, but he didn't! If he
knew how hard it had been, how hard it still was, he would
have come back. No, he would never have left.
She finished getting ready to go and joined the
others downstairs. "Road trip?"
That drew a smile from Willow. "Road trip! I just
hope it's a little less boring than my last trip to dry,
dusty, sandy, um, beautiful Nevada."
"Hey," Laura exclaimed, "it wasn't that bad!"
Willow just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
Laura rolled her eyes. "So, it was that bad. You
can't say I didn't try to ease the monotony."
"You're right. It's just that license plate bingo
and '99 Bottles of Beer' get old after awhile. They get
old after an hour."
Laura managed a chuckle. "Actually, they get old
after two minutes."
After Buffy called Xander and filled him in on what
was going on, and where they would be, they all climbed
into the minivan Giles had rented for their trip. Laura
had offered the use of her van, but when Willow groaned,
Giles suggested the rented vehicle instead. To add insult
to injury, when the 298 mile trip took a little less than
five hours, Willow pointed out that it had taken almost
twelve hours in Laura's van.
They pulled up in front of a small motel. As the
others got out, Giles looked up at the neon sign and
noticed the 'S' was burnt out. The Dusty Inn was now the
Duty Inn. He went in and paid for two rooms - one for the
women and one for himself. After getting settled for what
they hoped would be a short stay, they found the nearest
restaurant. While it called itself a restaraunt, it was
more of a grease trap in a local casino.
Over hamburgers - vastly overpriced hamburgers - they
discussed what to do next. They had gone over options in
the van.
"Well, from what you've told us, they like sandy
areas. That covers about, oh, I don't know - the whole
state!" Buffy pointed out.
A little grump and tired from the drive, Giles bit
back. "You're the bloody Slayer! Use your 'spidey sense'
and find them."
Laura tried to bring the tiff down a level, but
didn't have much luck. The noise stopped soon enough when
Willow, who had been unfolding a road map, plopped the map
in the center of the table, taking up the whole area.
Before anyone could complain, she placed a spoon on the
speck that was Silver Springs and uttered two words.
"Greunzyk Slith."
No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the
spoon slip a couple of inches on the map, rotated about
120 degrees, and stood on its' tip. Giles pulled out his
note pad and jotted down the coordinates. He then removed
the spoon and placed it in his hot tea. After taking a
sip, he asked Willow to enter the coordinates into her
PDA. She quickly informed the group that the colony was
seven miles north of town, located 3 miles from US95 by
foot.
Willow paid for their meal and they hurried back to
the minivan. It took about ten minutes to reach a point
where they could pull off the road, past the shoulder and
into the sand.
"Won't the state police have us towed?" asked Willow
as they climbed down into the sand.
Laura put her worries to rest. "It's the highway
patrol. Most of them spend their time patrolling US 50,
just outside of Fallon. They have a fatal accident about
once a week on that road, so they spend a lot of time
there. If they do come this way, they'll just flag it and
give us three days to move it."
"Oh." The explanation was good enough for the rest
of them.
After searching for an hour or so, Buffy noticed a
dark spot on a small sand hill. Closer inspection found
it to be a hole just large enough for a small man to enter
if he stooped low.
Giles', not exactly a small man, got to his knees and
called out. "Onkhu shmaemel." A series of grunts from
inside the hole prompted Giles to return the noise.
To the surprise of slayers and witch alike, a
creature crawled out of the hole. Had it stood straight,
it would have been over seven feet tall; however, all the
years of subterranean living had deformed the creature
into a permanent stooping posture, making it look much
shorter.
With halted English, it spoke. "I have known of you,
Giles Rupert. Said is it that you are like not of the
Council of Watchthings. Seek the male human, Giles Rupert
are. I think of you to come many moons before this time.
Come. Human male in place dwelling of long move of here.
True I am?"
With the exception of Giles, all that the group
understood was that the creature knew of Giles, knew of
another human male, and was expecting Giles to appear
before now.
Giles replied in the language of the Slith. It
replied in its' English as it looked at Laura.
"Human male is of human female. Of harm I want not.
Eat great much. Great much ouch. Of harm I want not.
Come he did I made to place with sickness. Place of shine
birds loud. Many moons to move. Ittle Greun go seeless.
Tribu of made to it of sees light. Speak you to move
human male. No speak I to move ittle Greun. No harm is
I."
With that, he turned and seemed to disappear into his
hole. Buffy moved to stop him, but Giles held her back
with his hand on her arm.
"Giles! We have to find out what he knows!"
"He told us everything. He told us more than
enough."
Laura held her breath. "The human male. It belongs
to me, doesn't it? He told you where John is?"
"Yes. There's more. He said that he knows of me,
that I am to be trusted, unlike the Council. He was
expecting me long before this night. He didn't want to
hurt John. Something, or someone, with eyes like light
took one of the Slith children. Whoever it was used the
child to make this Slith," he pointed to where the Slith
had stood, "do its' will didn't return the child. He said
he didn't want to hurt John, but that he had to feed from
him. He had to feed too much, much more than he normally
would and it made him sick, all of the 'food.' Again, he
didn't want to hurt him and he took him far from here to a
place where sick people go. A hospital in a place with
loud planes. He said we would find John because he told
us
where he was. He said he would not find his little Slith
beacuse whoever used him didn't give it back as he
promised."
Willow whispered, then she spoke out loud. "John's
alive. He's at the hospital in Fallon. Giles, I can't
find its' child. I tried. Something dark has to be
blocking me."
"I'm sorry he lost his baby, but he's not the only
one. Can we go to John and then find Marika?"
With one last look at the hole, the friends headed
back to their vehicle.
There was no conversation on the trip to Fallon.
Each traveler was occupied with his or her own thoughts.
Giles hadn't mentioned it, but whatever had taken the
young Slith had told the older Slith to expect Giles to
appear soon. Whoever it was knew that he would come
looking for them. That bothered him. It would seem that
whoever was behind this mess knew him and the Council.
The Council was a very secret organization. It worried
him.
Willow was bothered by the fact that her magic hadn't
revealed the young Slith. She hadn't wanted to speak out
of turn, but she was almost certain that the creature was
alive. Whatever had it, though, was making sure it
couldn't be found. Willow had had her experience with the
dark magics. While it would never control her again, she
was able to draw from its' strength and use it for her own
magic. She had learned more than she could have hoped for
from the coven that Giles had introduced her to. Buffy
knew that Willow had her self under control and couldn't
lose it, but she had no idea just how powerful Willow was.
No one did, save Giles and herself. The occasion to have
to reveal it had never risen, and she hoped it never
would. For something to be dark enough, powerful enough,
to block her from finding the little Slith scared her.
Buffy thought of the Slith and the missing young one.
The Slith had done something it knew was wrong in order
to protect its' child. Would she do something like that
for her own children? She knew she would. She would do
it for her family. Not the man who called himself her
father, but her real family. Her mom, Dawn, Giles,
Xander, and Willow. She might have done it for Tara and
Anya, but they were in the past. She was the Slayer. If
she had children, she wouldn't be the Slayer anymore.
That wouldn't stop evil from coming after her. It would
still attack her and her family. Even if she gave up her
duty by having a child, she would still have to fight.
Laura was living proof of that. Having kids and losing
the official slayer title didn't end the looking over your
shoulder for danger every step you took.
Laura was lost in her own thoughts. John was in the
hospital. At least, he was alive. What was wrong with
him? She was afraid of what she would find. Would going
to him, taking the time to find him take away from the
time she could be looking for her baby girl? She didn't
think she could ever forgive herself if something happened
to Marika because she had wasted time looking for John.
She wasn't wasting time! He was alive! That was all that
mattered. It wasn't all that mattered, but for now, it
was all she would worry about. She had new friends to
help her and she was going to take this thing one step at
a time.
Buffy was surprised by the size of the hospital.
There was a sign that said Trauma Center, but the building
wasn't much bigger than a large apartment building in Los
Angeles. The Hyperion was ten times the size of this
place. Granted, the Hyperion used to be a hotel, but it
gave her something to judge this place by.
Since it was after hours, the four of them entered
through the emergency room entrance. Laura approached the
small, sliding glass window. She noticed the sign that
said "If you are sick, please take a face mask." She
wondered what good a face mask would do?
A chipper little nurse looked up at Laura. "What can
we do for you?"
Laura wanted to grab the woman and pull her through
the window. She wanted to tell the woman that this was an
emergency room, not a goddamned drive up window! What in
the hell did the woman think she could do for people who
walked up to her little window?
The former slayer gathered her wits and calmed
herself down. "I don't know if you can help me. My
husband is missing. Someone told me he was here. Can you
tell me if he is?"
The nurse started to roll her eyes and realized that
Laura could see her. "Um, have you called the police?
Usually, they're the ones that deal with missing
people."
Trying to keep her calm, Laura repeated herself.
"Someone told me my husband's in this hospital. Could
you just check for me? Please?" She even managed a smile
with the please. She was losing it. She looked over at
her friends, who didn't notice. They were already
discussing how to find Marika. She wished that she had
had friends like that when she was younger.
The nurse continued to be obstinate. "I can call the
police for you. Would you like me to do that?" Her
voiced dripped with fake sugar.
Without warning, Laura reached through the window and
grabbed the nurse by her scrub top. She pulled her up
until she was nose to nose with the pissed slayer.
In no more than a hushed whisper, one that could only
be heard by her and the nurse, Laura spoke, instantly
aware that Buffy, Giles, Willow, and the rent-a-cop that
called himself security were already moving to pull her
off the nurse. "Listen, you bitch! My husband's name is
John Warren. He's in one of those fucking hospital beds
up there and unless you look up his name right now, I'm
going to squeeze those beady little eyes out of your fake
wanna-be Clara Barton head before that chubby little
bastard can get his gun out!" She pushed the R.N. back
into her seat, which rolled a few feet out of Laura's
grasp.
The nurse, having had the fear of something put into
her, waved off the security guard and instantly started
typing on the keyboard, which was still a good eighteen
inches from her body. Pulling herself up to it, she
spoke, quietly and sincerely to Laura. "Is that A-r-i?"
"Yes. Warren. W-a-r-r-e-n. Thank you."
The nurse's eyes opened wide and she opened her mouth
to speak. She instantly thought better of it. She gave
her tormentor instructions to the third floor and sent her
on her way. The second she and her friends were out of
sight, the nurse was on the phone.
"Betty? You have trouble. Get Doctor Andrens up
there right away. The John Doe? The one who only says
John? I don't care if there is only one John Doe! A
woman
is on her way up there right now looking for her husband
named John and she may be dangerous if you don't answer
her
exactly the way she wants. She tried to kill me because I
asked her if I could help her! Get the doctor. You don't
want to be the one to explain what's wrong with the guy!"
When the quartet stepped off the elevator, they found
an older man waiting for them. "Mrs. Warren?" he asked,
waiting for someone to volunteer herself.
Laura stepped forward.
"Let's go in here and sit down. Your friends can
join us if you'd like."
"Oh, god, please don't tell me he's dead or dying."
"No, no! Physically, he's perfectly healthy.
Please, have a seat." He guided her to a sofa in the room
he had just led them into.
"What do you mean, 'physically'?" Giles questioned.
"Just that. He's very physically fit. I wish I was
so lucky. He has a healthy appetite, he's strong, he's
aware, he's fit."
"You said he's physically fit, but what about
emotionally?" Buffy asked this as she looked at Willow.
Her friend had been emotionally unfit and it hadn't been
pretty.
Willow sensed Buffy's thoughts and reached over to
squeeze her hand.
"That's a problem. He seems to have amnesia. I say
seems to because I can't find a clinical cause for it.
There is no head or brain trauma. He didn't appear to be
in any state of shock when he was found."
"Where was he found?"
"Oddly enough, he was sitting on the heliport, right
outside the ambulance entrance. Security cameras make it
look like he was carried in with the shadows, but we can't
figure that out, either. As I was saying, technically, I
can't find anything wrong with him. When anyone speaks to
him, he simply says 'I'm John, I'm John.' I would have
diagnosed him as mentally disabled, but he doesn't seem to
be mentally slow. He's stumped us. Can you tell us
what's wrong with him?"
Laura started to cry. "I don't know. He's been
missing. He was fine the last time I saw him."
The doctor wanted to ask why she hadn't gone to the
police, but he'd heard what happened downstairs when that
sweet admissions nurse had asked the same question. He
gather the people and took them to John's room.
When they walked in, Laura rushed to her husband and
wrapped her arms around him and started sobbing. When she
finally let him go, he grinned up at her and said "I'm
John."
"I know, honey. I know."
After working their way through the red tape of
leaving a.m.a (against medical advice) and signing the
necessary papers, and convincing the one brave soul who
insisted on contacting the police that there was no need,
they headed back to their hotel, 35 miles away. Willow,
Buffy, and Giles ended up sharing a room so that Laura
could have some time alone with her husband. Buffy made
sure that the lost man couldn't sneak out for any reason
in the middle of the night. A hot shower and delivered
pizza later, they were all asleep, dreaming their own
troubled dreams.
The last thing Laura remembered was brushing tears
from her face.
The next morning, Willow checked out while Giles
loaded their bags and Buffy helped Laura get John loaded
into the backseat of the van. The man looked at Buffy and
smiled. "I'm John!"
Buffy smiled back. "I'm Buffy."
Again, "I'm John."
She buckled his seat belt and sat next to Laura,
draping a supportive arm around her. "We'll fix this. I
don't know how, but we will. We always do. It's what we
do. I mean, come on, I've died twice!" She frowned.
"There's a song in that. I think."
When Willow returned to the minivan, they started the
five hour journey. It had been a long twenty-four hours.
After getting this much of the puzzle solved, they all
felt just a little bit better. Finding Marika should be a
bit easier. Together, they were ready for anything.
They thought they were ready for anything.
Giles pulled the van into the driveway.
"Giles, let's get the bags later. I want to get
started on figuring out how to fix John and find their
girl."
"You're right, Buffy. I could use a little rest
after that drive."
She looked at him. What was bugging him?
They climbed the step to the front door, only to find
it opening. Xander stepped out.
"Hey, guys. Um, you might want to-"
Buffy pushed past him. "In a little bit Xander, ok?
We have some stuff to do."
Laura was right behind Buffy, with Willow, Giles, and
Xander not a second behind.
They all stopped. All of them, except Xander, when
they heard her.
"Hey, strangers! Wow! You look just like your
daughter." The woman stood up and looked at Laura again.
"Yep, spitting image." She turned to Buffy. "Glad to see
me?"
Buffy turned away and headed for the stairs, not
realizeng that Faith had mentioned Marika.
"I'm going to take a nap before I try to absorb
anymore of this crap today, Faith."
Four seconds later, the sound of the door slamming
shook the whole house.
____________________________________
Buffy ignored the knock on her door, knowing that
Willow would come in regardless of whether she was
invited. When the knock persisted, Buffy got up and
opened the door.
"Hey, B, we need to talk."
"Faith. I really meant what I said down there. I
need a nap. I'm just not ready for a bunch of your crap."
Faith sighed. Closing the door behind her, she
brushed her hair out of her face. When Buffy made a quick
step towards her, Faith flinched a bit.
Buffy didn't miss the reaction. Faith flinch?
Faith sat on the bed and looked up at Buffy.
"Please. We need to talk."
"About what? That you tried to steal Angel? How
about the fact that you slept with Riley? Oh, that's
right, you were ME when you did it! Here's a crazy idea -
let's talk about the fact that I'm stuck here in this hell
hole, that I can't take my sister out of here, because you
screwed up your life so bad that you can't slay. I'm
stuck here covering for you. No. Wait. I know what we
can talk about. The only other man I've ever loved left
me and ran off to Los Angeles. I'm here being the good
and loyal slayer while you're in prison, and still you
manage to see more of him than I do. Stop me anytime."
"I'm sorry. I don't know what else I can say or do.
I know there really isn't anything I CAN do, but I had to
say it. I AM sorry. I'll leave first thing in the
morning, but I was hoping we could work things out."
Buffy spun on her heel and looked at Faith. "Why?"
Faith was quiet for a moment. "Buffy," Faith said in
a whisper, not using the familiar nickname she gave her
fellow slayer, "I wasn't a good person. I'm not a good
person. All my life, all I was taught was that I'm not a
good person, that I'm good for nothing. It wasn't until I
came here, met you- your family- that I thought maybe-
just maybe- there was some good in me.
"Yeah, I tried to take Angel, and everything else. I
wanted your life. Your mom treated me like her own
daughter. I'm sorry about your mom, B. I cried when I
heard. I wanted to be at the funeral, if for nothing else
than to thank her for the way she treated me. My own mom
never treated me that way! Can you blame me for wanting
your life? I was a class-A bitch. I really thought my
life was going to be different. That was before...it
happened."
Buffy looked at her, the question on her face.
"Come on, B, I killed a man - a human being. Once I
did that, I realized that everything everyone ever said
was true, that I really was the bad seed. That's why I
went to Wilkins. I've hated myself every since. You try
to live with that before you judge me, Buffy. That's all
I ask. We don't have to be friends, but please, don't
hate me until you've lived with what I have to live with.
Live with hating yourself." Faith paused. "I do.
"Faith..."
"No, Buffy," Faith interrrupted, "like I said, I'm
outta here, as of tomorrow."
Faith stood up. As she reached the door, hand on the
knob to open it, she turned back to Buffy. "Except for
Angel, you were the only true friend I ever had. That's
what makes what I did so hard for me to live with. I'm
sorry."
She left the room closing the door behind her.
Buffy watched her former friend leave. She knew she
should stop her. She knew it. She didn't do it, though.
Faith was wrong about one thing. Buffy had hated herself.
When she looked at it that way, she could almost
understand what Faith meant. She just didn't know what
was wrong with her the last few days. Since finding out
that a pregnancy finding out pregnancy could be her ticket
out of her insane life, she'd been on edge. She lay down
on her bed, telling herself she'd already decided that she
wasn't the kind of person who would have a kid just to
salvage her train wreck life. So, why was it affecting her
like this? She closed her eyes. This isn't right. She knew
why, but she didn't want to deal with it- she hadn't
thought about it in years."
Yes, she had. She thought about it everyday.
The Slayer didn't know how long she'd slept when she
felt Giles shaking her awake.
"Buffy? Come on, Buffy, wake up. You need to stop
Faith from leaving."
She rolled over and opened her eyes. "Hmm? What
time is it?"
"It's after seven already. Buffy! Wake up! Faith's
on her way out. You need to hear what she has-has to say.
It's important."
"I heard it all last night. Now, let me go back to
sleep."
Rupert Giles leaned down and, risking his own safety,
pulled the blanket off of the Slayer. Adding insult to
injury, he pushed her out of her bed. Naturally, she was
off the floor in a second, in a fighting stance.
"Oh, get off of it, Buffy! After you've stopped
Faith from leaving, you and I are going to have that
talk."
"I guess you didn't hear me. I heard it all last
night. FYI - I don't want to have a talk with you right
now, either."
"FYI? Oh, yes, FYI. Well, FYI, I don't think you
heard what Faith came here to say. She saw Laura's
daughter. It would seem - it would seem that Marika
visited Faith in prison. As far as you and I having a
talk, we WILL have one before the end of the morning -
before lunch. Like it or not, we will talk. Don't try to
argue with me, Buffy! Take the fighting stance or try -
try to avoid me, but I can, and I will, use magic to hold
you in place if I have to."
Without another word, he walked out of the room,
leaving the door open.
Buffy growled and threw a pillow at the door, hoping
to shut it, but missed - the pillow landing in the hall.
There was something seriously wrong with her. Maybe
talking was what she needed, but she didn't know if she
COULD talk about it. She had to go stop Faith from
leaving before she did anything else. Dressing quickly,
she ran down the stairs.
Faith was stepping outside just as Buffy reached her.
"Faith, wait."
The girl turned. "Yeah?"
"Giles says I should listen to you."
Uncharacteristically, Faith sighed. She went back
into the house and sat down. Buffy sat across from her,
much like when Laura had told her story for the first
time.
"About a three weeks ago, one of the guards told me I
had a visitor. I figured it was Angel, since he's the
only one who ever comes to see me.
"He threw me for a loop when he said it was my
sister. I could only assume it was you trying to see me.
It wasn't you. It was some girl I'd never seen before. I
wasn't going to listen to her until she mentioned the
slayer.
"She told me this story about how her mother used to
be a slayer and was still alive. She told me she wanted
to be a slayer and wanted to know how to start training.
The reason she was there to see me, though, was because
she wanted to find the Council, B. She told me her
dad was missing and that she thought the Council had
something to do with it.
"I told her to forget it, to go back to her mother.
I tried to tell her the Council was bad news. She acted
like she was going to give up and do what I said- go home.
"I really didn't think much about it until the old
man came to see me."
Buffy interrupted. "Old man?"
"Travers. He told me he was arranging for me to get
out because he had something he needed done and he
couldn't trust YOU to do it. I meant what I said last
night, B. I'm changed. I'm not going to let anyone turn
me back into what I was. Of course, the old man doesn't
know that. Well, he didn't. Anyway, he wanted me to find
out who took the girl's dad and to find him before you
did. He seemed surprised about the girl. Apparently,
they didn't know about Laura here. She was a secret until
Laura's daughter came to see me.
"He blew it, B. I didn't know that the Council was
keeping track of my visitors. I mean, recording my
conversations. He gave it away by mentioning what the
girl told me. That's when I figured out that the old man
and his crew didn't plan to ever let me go.
"I kept my mouth shut and eyes open. Sure enough,
they got me out. I've been pardoned. I guess if they can
do that, they can get me back in, but I'll worry about
that later.
"So, I lost the guy they had following me and came
straight here. I wasn't about to do anything for them.
That's when you guys got back from Nevada."
Buffy thought about it. She turned to Giles. "Why
would they want John? Why was it important enough to
spring Faith from prison to work for them?."
Faith stood up and headed for the door. "Well, I've
done my part, I guess. I'm out of here."
Buffy reached out and grabbed Faith by the arm. "No.
I mean, I have a lot of problems with what you did to me,
to my friends, but you're right. You deserve a chance."
"Why? What's different from last night to change
your mind?"
"I've had some time to think, I guess. The fact
that you turned yourself in and haven't tried to get out
has a lot to do with it. You were right. You had a lot
to deal with. Don't get me wrong, everyone's responsible
for their own actions, but there were a lot of factors in
your decisions.
"I'm not saying I'm ready to trust you with my life,
but I'm ready to give you a chance. That's all I can
offer right now. That and a place to stay. Besides, I'll
probably need some help kicking ass before this whole
thing is over with."
Faith didn't say anything for a few seconds. When
she spoke, there were tears in her eyes. "Are you sure?
I can't promise anything. I mean, I can promise that I'm
sorry, and that I'm not going to turn on you again. I'm
still me though, B. The only thing that's changed is the
way I look at things."
"That's cool. It won't be easy, but it's worth a
shot." In the back of her mind, Buffy thought that maybe
if Faith was changed and in Sunnydale for good, then maybe
- just maybe - Buffy could finally get out of here.
Giles cleared his throat and stood up. "Buffy, I
think it's time we had that talk now."
Buffy shook her head and went outside. The Watcher
followed, closing the door behind him.
"I want to know what's the matter with you, Buffy.
Why are you so edgy lately? Don't deny it. Every since
Laura showed up, you're snapping at everyone."
Buffy tried to figure out how to tell him. She
hadn't even told Willow. No one knew. It wasn't
something she'd ever been able to talk about. It had
happened before she came to Sunnydale. If it hadn't
happened, she might never have made it to this damned
town. She knew she would have to deal with it. She'd
managed to put it off for more than ten years. For so
many years, she'd kept it bottled up. She was afraid that
if she talked about it now, she'd lose control.
**********************************
1996 - Somewhere in the middle of America
"Buffy? You okay, babe?"
"I-I don't think so. I thi-" Before she could
finish, another sharp pain coursed through her body. She
was a slayer, it shouldn't be such a crippling pain.
The young man put his arm around her. "I'm getting
you to the hospital right now. Stop fighting me, damn it!
We're going."
She hurt too much to argue. She knew what was
happening. She'd known her secret for a few weeks. She
was going to tell him tomorrow. Now, she feared, it was
too late.
********************************
"Buffy?"
Giles voice snapped her back to the present day.
"I'm ok. Giles, don't hate me. Please, don't hate
me."
"Hate you? Me? Buffy, what is it?"
"I never told anyone. I guess you should have been
told, but I didn't think it was important. He's never
coming back. Why should he?"
Giles' mind was spinning. She hadn't told him
anything, yet already he knew she had some dark secret and
there was a man whose return she either yearned for or
feared.
"When I left Hemery, before I came here, I gave up
slaying."
"I know. There was no activity after the school
burned. That's when the Hellmouth started opening."
"No. I mean after the school burned, before I came
here. I quit. I ran. I didn't think the Council could
find me. Hell, I didn't even really know about the
Council back then. I had a boyfriend. We left. I ran
away. I got pregnant." That's when she started to cry.
Giles wrapped his arms around the girl he had come to
think of as his daughter. Pregnant? That would certainly
explain why all of this was affecting her so.
A few minutes later, Buffy composed herself. That's
why this is so hard. I lost the baby. I miscarried. I
was only a few weeks along, but I think it was the stress
of running that brought it on. I've always thought that.
If I had known that I could have the baby and stop being a
slayer, I wouldn't have worried so much. I swear, Giles,
if this thing is true, I'm going to make sure all the
slayers after me know about it."
"Buffy, can I ask you who the father was? I've
always had the impression that Angel was your first love-
your first...well, um, your first. With your feelings for
him, I never got the sense that you'd ever loved anyone
before. DID you you love this fellow?"
"Love him? I adored him! He was everything to me.
He loved me, in spite of what I was."
"Where is he, where did he go?"
"I don't know. When I lost the baby, I pushed him
away. I told him to forget me, that I never wanted to
hear from him again."
***************************
1992 - Somewhere in the middle of America
"You don't mean it, Buffy. If I go, you'll want me
back tomorrow. When you do, you won't find me because I'm
going to do exactly what you ask. I'll disappear."
"Don't tell me what I mean! This never would have
happened if I hadn't run off with you!"
"You can't blame-"
"I DO! I do blame you! I had a duty, and I ran from
it. Ran with you! I don't want to see you anymore. Get
out!"
He stood by the door. "Please, Buffy, I love you. I
can't just leave you here."
"Go! Just go! I'll get home by myself. You know
what I can do. If you don't go, I'll make you go."
He opened the door. He looked back at Buffy, crying
now, begging. "Please. You're my life. How can I go?
What'll I do? I can't live without you."
She'd gone to him, then. She reached out and touched
his cheek, his hair. "Go. Don't look for me. You don't
exist anymore. We were a story in a book, and it's over.
THE END. If you come for me, I won't know who you are. I
want you to go. When that door closes, you never existed.
I mean it. Go. I can't do this anymore."
He tried to return the touch, to feel her hair, but
she pulled back from him. "I'll always love you, Buffy.
I swear it. I'll never love anyone else again." He
walked out and closed the door. She could hear the sobs
through the door. That was all it took. Listening to his
footsteps receding, she fell to the floor and cried
herself to sleep.
**********************************
"Did he ever come looking for you? Oh, Dear Lord,
it was Ford, wasn't it? The young man that wanted to be a
vampire?"
Buffy laughed. "No, Giles. Ford really was my
friend. A good friend. You don't know who he was. I
really don't want to remember him. I've tried so hard to
forget him. I think that's why I gave myself so
completely to Angel.
He pulled her in close. "It's alright, Buffy. You
were young. You didn't do anything wrong. No one can
blame you for running. We'll get to the bottom of this
mess. When-when it's over, no future slayer will go
through it again. If this tale is true, it will be made
known to all Watchers, I promise you that."
When Buffy recomposed herself, Giles mentioned
something that had been bothering him.
"If it's true that a pregnant slayer loses her call,
that a new slayer is called, I wonder what happened when
you became pregnant?"
The Slayer was about to tell him what she thought,
when they were interrupted by a soft cry. They looked up
to find a young girl, no older than Dawn, walking up the
path to the house. Buffy turned her head just soon enough
to see Laura fly through the door and throw her arms
around the girl.
"Marika! Oh, God, where have you been? Baby, what's
wrong? What happened?"
The girl looked at her mother. "I wanted to find the
Slayer. I went to the prison looking for that one and she
told me to go home, to forget about trying to find Dad. I
almost gave up, but I came here instead, thinking I'd ask
the dead slayer's friends to help me. But...she's not
dead. I don't understand."
A car drove by as she finished speaking. She watched
it pass, then pointed at it.
"That's the fourth time I've seen that guy. I think
he's following me."
"Bastards!"
Everyone turned and saw Faith standing in the door,
Willow directly behind her.
"It's the Council! It has to be!"
___________________________________________
With the sun going down, the small bunch of people
went back into the house. Faith was still going on about
"the damned Council." While Willow went into the kitchen
to start dinner for everyone, Laura demanded Marika
explain her absence.
"Young lady, where in the world have you been?"
"Around."
"Marika! Stop playing games with me. You owe me an
explanation! What do you think you were doing running off
like that?"
"Listen, Mom, if you want me to talk, you have to
shut up. I know how you are. You can't listen without
interrupting."
Buffy cleared her throat accusatorily and looked at
Laura, remembering a similar conversation when the two
first met.
Receiving her mother's promise not to interrupt,
Marika told her story.
"Well, after you told me about slaying, and I felt
this... whatever it is in me, I wanted to find Dad. You
kind of freaked out." She held up her right hand to stop
her mother from protesting. "You kind of freaked out.
Deny it or not, it's true. It was like you had no
intention of finding him. You were more concerned with
finding another slayer to help, to protect me, all because
some dead guy told you to.
"I wasn't sure where to start, but I thought if I
left, that it might light a fire under your ass-" she
shrunk back from Laura's glare, "ok, your butt, you might
take some action. I wanted to find this council you told
me about. I came back here, thinking one of her-" she
pointed at Buffy- "friends might help, but there wasn't
anyone here. I did what you did. I read the papers at
the library. I found out about Faith. Not much. I found
out that she was connected to Buffy, that she got in
trouble, and that she was in prison. So, I went to see
her. She probably told you that already.
"She told me to go home - which I did- but when I got
there, you were gone. I tried to figure out where you
might have gone, but then I decided that I could find Dad
on my own. I did. Sort of. He was in a hospital close
to where we were living, but he's gone now. Someone took
him. I didn't want to ask for help because I was afraid
they would treat me like a runaway. In the end, I figured
I'd come back here again. There had to be SOMEONE that
could help. Here I am."
Laura put her arm around her daughter. "First of
all, you were very wrong to leave. I was scared to death!
Don't you know I'd die if anything happened to you?
Second, you're grounded."
"Mom!"
"No! I mean it! You can try to run off again, but
I'll be right behind you." She stopped Marika from
interrupting, just as her daughter had done to her, "Ah!
I mean it. And we found your dad. He's here."
A squeal of delight escaped from the girl. "Where?
I want to see him!" She jumped up. "Dad?" She started
to look in the adjoining rooms. "Dad?"
Buffy, Faith, and Giles watched as Laura took her
daughter by the arm. "Honey, he's upstairs. Wait. He's
sick."
"Sick? How? He's going to be ok, isn't he?"
"Something's happened to his memory. The doctors
don't know what's wrong with him, but he won't talk,
except to tell us his name. Physically, he's fine.
Mentally...well, we just don't know."
"I want to see him." The teen pulled away from her
mother and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
She found him sitting up in bed. She ran to him,
throwing her arms around him. When he didn't return the
hug, she pulled away to look at him.
He looked back at her. "I'm John."
"Dad? I know your name. What's wrong?"
He gave her a blank look. "I'm John."
Marika started crying then. "Daddy..." She put her
arms around him. "It'll be alright, Daddy, it will. I
promise. Mom can fix it. We'll be ok."
"I'm John."
"I know, Daddy, I know. You're John."
When she said it, he looked in her eyes and smiled at
her. "I'm John," he said again and laughed.
Eventually, the lost man fell asleep, his daughter
still holding him, having already fallen asleep herself.
Downstairs, the group was growing. Xander had
arrived just moments earlier. It took a few minutes to
fill them in.
"Hey! Maybe Laura can make a wish. I'll call Giles
house and talk to Anya. Maybe she can grant a wish to
restore what's-his-name."
"It's John, not what's-his-name, and that won't work.
She can only grant vengeance wishes. This isn't a case
of John wronging Laura."
"Well, it was an idea."
Willow sighed. "The spaghetti should be ready. We
can talk about this when we're done eating. Let's take a
break. It might be easier to think if we do. Who wants
garlic salt on their bread?"
An hour or so later, a unanimous decision was made-
no one had a clue what to do next. They knew they needed
to find whoever was responsible for forcing the Slith on
John, but no idea how to go about it. The Slith they had
spoken to didn't know anything about the man.
Willow's idea to take a break stretched to include
the rest of the evening. Sleeping on it might prove to
offer a new solution. As Laura and Giles headed upstairs,
Xander, Willow, Faith, and Buffy went into the kitchen.
Sitting around the table, they discussed what little
they knew.
"Guys, this really sucks. If Giles can't figure this
out, I don't see that we'll ever be able to help them."
Faith leaned forward, resting her elbows on the
table. "You know what? You guys aren't quitters. Willow
told me about the rampage she went on, and how Xander
stopped her. He didn't quit. B, you never give up. So,
why now? I say we find the council hang out and kick some
ass."
Buffy let a smile cross her lips. Faith wanted to
beat the bad guys. "I didn't say we were giving up, I
said I don't know how we're going to help them."
"Will, what about the coven that helped you take
control of your power? Maybe they can help?"
The witch sighed. "No. I tried. I tried reaching
John with a mind technique I learned. When it didn't
work, I called Sarlan - she's part of the coven - and she
said they couldn't sense anything. They didn't have any
thing for us to go on."
Buffy looked at Willow with a question on her lips,
but Faith asked it first. "How could they sense anything
from England?"
Again, Willow sighed. It's not easy to explain.
Have you ever seen Start Trek?"
Faith and Buffy both snorted.
Xander looked offended by the snort.
Willow continued. "Mr. Spock was able to do this
thing called a mind meld. He would put his hands on a
persons head and chant some mantra and be able to explore
their mind. With all the help and power the coven has
given me, we've formed some sort of mental bond. I can
think about something and they will know it. If I want
them to. It's controllable. It's not like we can read
minds or anything, just sense what someone is feeling."
The two slayers and Xander tried to look like they
really understood it, but ended up looking more confused.
"Hey!" Buffy had a revelation. "You did that when
we were on the porch, when Laura got here. You knew I was
thinking about Tara and what she would think if she was
here! You can sense me?"
Her friend blushed a bit. "Not like I can with the
coven. But yes, I can sense you. And Xander. Dawn and
Giles. Anya. Before Spike left again, I could sense him,
too."
Xander was flattered. "Wow! We share a link. I
mean, a bond. Well, besides the end of the world thing,
the Ascension, the Master, that singing demon, the midget
demon, and never mind, I'll just go babble in the corner."
Before he could actually leave his chair to go to the
corner, the kitchen door burst in. Several demons made
their way in before Willow was able to block the entrance.
"Hold!"
She wanted to hold the demons who had already made
their way in, but the slayers were already on top of it,
and she was afraid she might affect one of them. Or
Xander, who was busy trying to hit demons over the head
with a frying pan. She wanted to laugh, in spite of their
situation. Xander was a man. A real man. A good looking
man. He'd saved everyone from one apocalypse or another
more times that she wanted to count, and still didn't get
the credit he deserved. Just when you were ready to take
him seriously, he did something like chasing demons around
a kitchen with a frying pan - screaming like a girl.
Giles, Laura, and her daughter ran into the kitchen.
Laura's instincts kicked in, as did Marika's. Giles was
torn. He wanted to help the woman and...good lord! Was
that a frying pan in Xander's hand?! Shaking his head, as
though trying to clear an illusion, he stepped next to
Willow. As strong as she was, she was having trouble
keeping up her spell. Several of the demons outside were
casting counter-spells, trying to bring down the invisible
wall Willow was holding up. He threw up his hands and
shouted "Hold!', reinforcing his friend's efforts.
When the demons realized that the number of people
they were fighting had just doubled, they concentrated
their efforts on getting near the teen who had entered the
room. Faith, seeing where the attention was focused,
moved her way between a nasty looking creature and Marika.
Unfortunately, she reached her spot just as a tentacle of
sorts lashed out and it managed to smack her across the
face, leaving a thin laceration.
Apparently, the enemy recognized Buffy as Sunnydale's
chief protector, and increased their efforts in that
direction, while at the same time, trying to get to
Marika. Laura suddenly realized what was happening. They
were trying to get to her daughter. For whatever reason,
this was what this whole mess was about. Someone wanted
Marika! She turned to her daughter and yelled at her, at
all of them.
"They think Marika is special! They don't realize I
am the true slayer, that she's not one! Protect me! It's
me they need because I'm the Slayer!"
All action stopped. The look of bewilderment on her
friend's faces was quickly concealed by all but one.
Marika knew that her mother was offering herself up as a
decoy.
"Mom! No!"
Laura was able to convince the creatures that she was
trying to avoid them, while in all actuality she was
maneuvering herself to be taken by them. As they closed
in on her, no one heard Willow say a simple word under her
breath. "Track."
Giles and Willow released their hold spell and
restrained Marika. Faith crossed the room to see to
Xander, who had been hit in the head one of the invaders
at the last moment. Buffy looked at them, then at Willow
and Giles.
"What the hell was that?"
Giles reached up to remove his glasses, then stopped.
He realized he was more angry then anything else right
now, and he didn't have time to polish his bleeding
glasses. "They wanted Marika. Someone knows who she is
and they want her. I believe Laura knew that. She
offered herself up, indeed, as any mother would do."
"What do we do now?"
Marika used her head to hit Giles in the chest. She
obviously had some strength, as she was able to knock the
wind out of him. Before Willow could double her grip,
Marika was out the door.
Buffy was right behind her.
The girl was able to run almost a block and a half
before Buffy caught up to her. The slayer grabbed the
runaway by the arm and spun her around.
"Leave me alone! They already ruined my dad and I'm
not going to let them do it to her too! Let me go."
Buffy struggled with the girl, trying to calm her
down.
Marika yanked free. "Leave me alone, you stupid
bitch!"
Without thinking, Buffy slapped the hysterical teen.
"Stop it! Your mother an take care of herself. She
won't be able to do that, or to escape, if she's worrying
about you!"
Marika held her cheek. "I don't like you very much.
I wasn't sure about you from the start. I don't know why
my mom put her trust in some dead guy, why she had to come
to you!"
Buffy returned the ice cold stare. "I don't like you
very much either. I got rid of one bratty grown-up
wanna-be this summer and I don't need to deal with another
one. I didn't ask for this. You want to find your mom?
Go ahead."
The girl looked at Buffy with suspicion. She started
to walk past Buffy when the Slayer stopped her with her
next words.
"I'm not taking care of your dad, you know? You go
and get yourself caught, or killed even. Go ahead. He's
not my concern. I've been in a mental hospital. Kind of.
It wasn't fun. It was a nightmare. Literally. Guess
what? Leave him with me and that's where he's going."
She turned, heading back to her house.
Marika didn't follow right away. "You really are a
bitch, aren't you?"
"I like to think so. Any monster or big bad in this
town'll tell you the same thing. See ya whenever."
Buffy was climbing the step to her house when Marika
stepped up behind her.
"I can't lose my mom. Don't you understand that?
She's all I have anymore. She doesn't want me to be a
slayer, I know that. It's not something I can say no to.
She knows that. I don't know what the hell to do. My dad
needs me, but she does too. What am I supposed to do?"
"You sure do cuss a lot."
"What?"
Buffy turned around and smiled at the troubled kid.
"You sure do cuss a lot. Swear. Say bad words."
"Oh."
"I saw you trying to fight in there. With an
attitude like that, you'll fit into slaying easy. I have
to tell you, though, the same attitude'll get you killed
your first week."
"You know about dying, huh?"
"You can say that. I died my first month here.
Maybe it was the first year. Or week. Whatever. Because
of my attitude. The same attitude you have now. Listen.
I didn't want this job. You're nuts to want it. I think
if you'll listen and try to follow our advice, you'll do
just fine."
"You think I can be the Slayer?"
"It doesn't matter what I think. If you're chosen,
you're chosen. Nothing anyone can do about it. Like it
or not. If they're smart, they'll fight with you instead
of against you."
"Ok. You aren't such a bitch."
Buffy put her arm around Marika's shoulders. "Shhhh,
someone might hear you."
The younger girl actually managed a laugh as they
went back into the house.
Across the street, a glowing pair of emerald green
eyes watched until the door closed behind them.
__________________________________________
Laura struggled as the creatures dragged her into the
building. She managed to break the hold of one,
immediately using her free hand to inflict serious damage
to the unfortunate demon. Sadly, the fallen captor was
instantly replaced with another, who held tighter than his
predecessor. The former slayer knew she had to get free,
but how to do it seemed to be a problem. Every time she
managed to get rid of one of these...things, another was
in its' place.
-----------------
In Buffy's kitchen, Willow had a map spread open on
the table. Her eyes were closed, her hands hovering over
the map palms down. Just as she had found the Slith in
Nevada, she was able to produce similar results this time.
A spoon on the table slid across the map and stood on
end.
"There! She's somewhere near the Bronze. I'll be
able to sense her better when we get there."
Marika walked came in the room. "Dad's out. Those
drugs the doctors sent with him really do the trick.
He'll be asleep for hours."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Buffy asked.
The group - Buffy, Willow, Faith, Marika, Giles, and
Xander - ran out the door.
---------------------------
Just as Laura was ready to give up her fight, the
demons let go. She nearly lost her balance, but caught
herself at the last instant. She contemplated escape when
a voice got her attention.
"Well, I was hoping for the next slayer, but her
mother will do. I wasn't ready for you, but it's just as
well. I can run my experiments on you now, rather than
later."
Laura didn't recognize the man, but he obviously knew
who she was. "What do you mean, 'rather than later'?"
The man sighed. "Please do keep up. Any intelligent
person should have deducted the meaning. I planned to
take you after I was through with your daughter."
Fighting the instinct to break his neck, she managed
to hold herself in check. "Bastard!" she hissed through
clenched teeth. "You won't get her. She's protected."
"Protected? By the same people that protected you?
The way you protected your husband?"
"My... The Council... You did that?"
He laughed. "Yes, I did that. The Council? Highly
unlikely. You know, they used to be powerful. Now,
they're nothing more than a bunch of dottering old fools!
They could have used the Slayer to control humanity.
There are a few young ones that still might be reached,
sitting at their table, but there isn't much hope. No,
the Council will be destroyed."
"And you're going to destroy them by kidnapping all
the slayers?"
Another laugh from the man in front of her. "No, my
dear. I want the slayers so that I can create my own."
"Wha... Create your own? Who the hell do you think
you are? Some kind of god?"
"If only it was that simple. No, I plan to find out
what makes a slayer. I believe it's genetic. Not genetic
in the sense that it runs in the family, but rather that there is a
gene that determines a slayer. The fact that there are so
many of you alive backs up my theory. Come to think of
it, it might be better that I did get you first. I can
run my tests on you and take the girl when I'm done. That
way, I can kill you while I have her and watch the change
in her, see if death is the real trigger for the Slayer genome.
I'm thinking that it's not necessarily a slayer's
death that calls the next slayer, though. It's my intent
to find out just what it takes, then I shall create a
multitude of slayers to to my will."
"You're nuts! Shit...you're not nuts, you're
freaking psycho!"
"You say tom-A-to, I say tom-AH-to." He gestured to the
creatures behind Laura. "Lock her away."
Laura redoubled her struggles with her captors- but she
fought a hopeless battle.
---------------------------
Standing outside an empty warehouse, Faith offered
her opinion. "I say we just go in kicking ass and not
bothering with the names."
"I'd rather think of something a little
less...chaotic, if you don't mind."
The other five looked at Giles.
"Oh, good Lord - how many times do you have to lose
the, um, 'big bad' before you get it? You can't just run
in fighting. We need to split up. Some of us can look
for whoever it is responsible for this and the others can
free Laura. Really, I'm surprised you haven't realized
this after all these years."
The others tried to look like they weren't a little
embarrassed, but didn't succeed. They discussed what
should be done. Giles, Buffy, and Willow found a
different entrance and waited. When they heard Faith kick
open a door, the three of them sneaked in. The plan was
that hopefully Faith, Xander, and Marika could create
enough of a distraction that Buffy and friends could sneak
up on whoever without being noticed.
Faith, having kicked open the door with little
effort, wasn't surprised to find three or four monsters
coming at her. She was ready for them. She was able to
take one out right away, knocking his feet out from under
him with a sweeping leg move. Throwing a fast fist
towards the throat of another, she ducked a bit, causing
the thing behind her to lose its' balance. As soon as the
fist made contact, it was drawn back and yanking the one
who had just gone off-balance over her shoulder. She
didn't see the first creature get up from off the floor.
It grabbed her from behind. Before she could fight it,
she heard a bone crunching snap. The grip was released.
She turned to see the creature in Marika's arms. The girl
had broken the creatures neck easily.
Xander, having managed to decapitate one of the
creatures, joined them and dusted off his shirt. "Well,
ladies, shall we?" he asked, motioning for them to
continue farther into the building.
Not two minutes passed before they were attacked
again. While they were fighting the guards, Giles, Buffy,
and Willow had managed to make it inside the building
without being detected.
Back towards the front of the warehouse, Xander used
a broken board to run through one of the attackers. The
thing looked down as the board emerged from where two
hearts had been previously beating. Before it realized
what had happened, it was dead.
Marika and Faith stood back to back.
"When you feel me turning, you turn. Feel it with
the muscles in your back! Got it?" Faith demanded.
"Yeah, duck!" Both girls ducked as a nasty looking
weapon with a rusty blade came at them. It passed over
there heads a millisecond before the women were upright
again. A chain had appeared in Faith's hand - from where,
she had no idea. She raised her arm and started swinging
the steel in a circle above their heads. When one of the
creatures dared step closer, Xander yelled at it. When it
hesitated, looking to see what Xander was doing, Faith
moved her arm in a snapping motion, wrapping the chain
around the neck of the fool being. However, instead of
disabling the monster, it reached up and grabbed the
chain. It tugged, causing Faith to lose her step,
breaking the pattern that she and Marika had established.
In a moment, the three humans were one-on-one against
their foe again.
Years of experience taught Xander to trust his
instinct in these situations. He wanted to step back from
the thing that was advancing on him, but something told
him that he would be in an even worse spot if he did.
When the creature reached out for him, Xander grabbed it
by its' wrist. Dropping to one knee and turning his
torso, he pulled hard on the arm of the thing. As it got
within reach, he forced his head against its' stomach and
started to stand. The motion carried the enemy over
Xander's hip, colliding the monster with another that was
advancing from the rear.
Fighting for her life, Marika knew she should be
frightened. She wasn't. Instead, there was an
exhilaration that ran through her. The things they were
fighting seemed to multiply. No sooner did she kill one,
than another was in its' place. She found herself looking
forward to the next advancement. Grabbing an arm of one
of the beings, she twisted it up behind its' back, smiling
when she heard the satisfying crunch of its' shoulder
separating.
In another part of the building, Willow was
concentrating. She knew they were close to Laura, but
there was another sense. Someone she knew was in this
building. That was causing her to divide her attention
between Laura and the other person. She was puzzled.
"What is it?" Buffy asked, concerned by the look on
her friend's face.
"Giles? Someone's here. Someone we know. But...
But they aren't in trouble. I think whoever it is is the
one who took Laura."
Giles reached up for his glasses, stopping when he
realized what he was doing. He was determined to break
the infernal habit. "Yes, well, let's find whoever it is
first. If we can take them into custody, we should be
able to put a stop to all of this."
Willow didn't say a word, turning her attention
inward, tuning out the sense of Laura.
Laura's daughter, in the meantime, was in a corner.
She had taken such satisfaction in the pain she was
causing some of these things, that she wasn't paying
attention to where she was going, not realizing that she
was being forced backwards.
Xander, on the other hand, did notice her
predicament. Finishing off the last monster he was
fighting, he got Faith's attention. Whatever breed of
creature Faith was fighting, it was resilient. Her blows
seemed to have no effect. She looked at Xander and
understood what he was trying to tell her. She doubled
her efforts, increasing the blows on the creature. It
faltered, taking a step backwards. The step was what
Faith was looking for. She threw another volley of blows
and the creature took another step back. This time, when
it stepped backwards, Faith stopped punching. She,
instead, reached out and pushed the creature backwards
with all her might. Its' momentum carried it backwards.
It would have taken three or four steps back as a result
of the push. Might have. Instead,it fell over Xander,
who had resorted to junior high schenannigans and knelt
behind it on all fours. The second the monster was on
its' back, Xander stood up, joining Faith, grabbing its'
neck - adding it to the number of things that had died of
a broken neck that night.
They turned, starting for Marika. They stopped
walking when they saw that she had ended the fight by
finishing the last of their opponents.
"You're good, sister," Faith said, ready to offer a
word of advice.
"Yeah, I am. Now let her tell me I'm not going to
be a slayer."
"Wait a sec. I said you did good. You have a lot to
learn before you're patrolling on your own. You should
never have allowed yourself to be backed into a corner."
"Please! I don't need your advice."
Xander stepped between the two. He turned to face
Marika. "Ok, first of all, watch it. You aren't as hot
as you think you are. Buffy and Faith are alive because
they know what they're doing. Well, and Faith's been in
prison for a number of years. But that's beside the
point. They've both been in their share of corners and I
guarantee you they won't get caught there again. Second
of all, You had no business torturing these things."
"I wasn't-"
"Like hell you weren't! I saw you, little girl! You
had a chance to kill that thing, but you ripped its' arm
out and threw him- it aside. Maybe you didn't notice, but
it got up and attacked me. If you plan to slay, you slay.
If you plan to be some sort of monster yourself, then
leave and don't come back!" Xander gave her a look of
disgust before turning away.
Faith looked at her former sexual conquest. She was
surprised by his little speech. She was used to him
cracking jokes to lighten the mood, but he had just set
the girl straight, and made some good points while he did
it. He sounded almost like a Watcher. She smiled as he
said one more thing.
"Faith, make sure she," he gestured with his thumb
towards Marika, "doesn't get lost. Make sure she stays
with us. Let's go find Buffy and the others."
Faith motioned for Marika to follow Xander, taking up
the rear when Marika complied.
A few minutes later, they joined their friends.
Saving the story of their earlier adventure for a later
time, they quietly wandered the corridors.
Just as Giles was ready to call it quits, to go
looking for Laura instead of the mystery person, a door
opened. They could hear a familiar voice.
"Oh, I will, my dear. I intend to wait. Of course,
the result will have an ending that differs from the one
you'd like, but I will wait for your friends to come for
you."
The group stopped. Giles was about to say the
person's name when the man turned and faced them.
"Ripper! Good to see you, chap! I thought you'd
never get here."
"Ethan! What- Why-"
Raine interrupted. "Who, how, when? What order
would you like those answered?"
Buffy stepped forward. "I don't like you. I never
did. It's time you were held accountable for everything
you've done. I may not be able to dust you, but I'm about
to kick your ass."
Faith laughed. "Let me help, B. This bastard tried
to grab me once, before I ever came to SunnyD."
Giles laid a hand on Buffy's arm. "Wait. Ethan,
what are you doing? Are you telling me you've gone bad?
Not bad, but..."
"Nuts? Insane? That's what the old slayer keeps
calling me. No, Ripper, I'm as sane as I ever was."
"You do realize that you've gone too far?"
"Too far? Farther than drugging every adult in town?
Farther than turning every child in town into a monster
or what not? Now, now Rupert, give me some credit. I've
always had a purpose. Who'd think a bungling fool like me
could ever truly be a threat? I had you all fooled. Tell
me something. Did you know that I even tried to join your
precious Watcher circle? Your Council said I was an
incompetent moron."
Xander smirked. "Incompetent. Try Viagra, pal."
Marika groaned. "Incompetent, not impotent, you
idiot."
"I know that," Xander said, turning red. "You know
something? I don't like you very much little girl."
"People, people, people. As much as I'd like to
prolong our reunion, I have things to do. So, if you
don't mind, I'll take Miss Summers, the tart slayer, and
the girl."
Up to this point, Willow had remained silent. She
was concentrating. Something wasn't right. She knew the
whole thing was bad, but there was something wrong at this
instant. She spoke her words at the same time that Ethan
made his move.
Giles' old chum motioned towards Buffy and the other
girls. He motioned for them to come to him. To their
horror, they started walking. They each fought it, but
were compelled to keep moving.
Willow spoke at that second. "Be still."
Faith, Marika, and Buffy froze. Their bodies hurt. A
force was pulling them towards Ethan Raine while another
forced held them in place.
Giles made a move towards the man. He stopped short
when Ethan looked at him, his appearance changing.
Ethan looked down, then back at Giles. His eyes
glowed an emerald green. "You fool! Call off your witch.
She can't beat me. None of you can. Don't you see?
It's all been because of me! If I wished, I could blink
you all out of existence here and now. Her power is
childish compared to mine. I WILL have the slayers. The
rest of you shall die. When I've unlocked the secret of
the slayers, I'll create an army and bring down the
Council that you all think run your worlds. Now. Let. Me.
Have. Them!"
A mist started to rise from the ground where he
stood, as he started chanting under his breath. Willow
tried to hold her ground. She realized she was losing the
battle. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to try a
different spell, but feared that doing so would release
her hold on the slayers.
The ground started shaking. The ceiling started to
crack. Willow was determined to protect her friends at
all cost. She had almost ended their lives once and she
would make amends. Pieces of plaster started to fall,
bouncing off some force field that had gone up around the
group.
Raine raised his voice and starting speaking in a
voice that put chills through everyone. "DARME SUPIM
0LROM DRAME SLAYER DARME!" As he spoke, the field around
the group started to dissolve. The slayers all started
inching forward at the same time.
Willow increased her efforts, lowering her voice in
contrast to that of her adversary. "Still. Hold. Be
still. Calm. Freeze," she continued chanting, although
the magic of the other was much stronger. All Willow was
doing was slowing down the inevitable.
The foundation of the building started quaking.
Raine's eyes glowed deeper green than they'd ever gone.
Before long, they started to become transparent. Blood
began to appear from the pores on his body. He continued
chanting. A surge of energy gave him the boost he needed.
He stood to his full height. "DARME SUPIM 0LROM DRAME
SLAYER DARME!DARME SUPIM 0LROM DRAME SLAYER DARME!"
Giles and Xander both cried out, unaware of the tears
they were both shedding over what was about to happen.
Marika screamed. Willow's forces vanished as she
collapsed to the dusty floor. The three slayers rushed
towards Raine against there will.
The creature that had masqueraded as Ethan Raine for
so long laughed maniacally. It stood even taller, tearing
the skin of the body that had agreed to host it so many
years ago. "DARME SUPIM 0LROM DRAME SLAYER DARME!DARME
SUP-"
Suddenly, everything stopped. No quakes, no shakes,
no plaster, no ceiling cracks, no slayers moving against
their free will. They all stared at the motionless form
of the thing that had almost ended their lives, lying on
the floor.
The sound of a board dropping, clattering on the
floor was followed by a very disheveled woman stepping out
of the room that moments before Raine himself had emerged
from.
"Mom!" Marika cried, running forward, throwing her
arms around the woman who had just saved them.
"He really pissed me off," Laura told them.
For some reason, Buffy thought that was funny. She
stared laughing. Giles tried to contain his laughter, and
it almost escaped him. He stopped when he realized that
Raine was moving and chanting again. They could feel the
ground starting to move.
Willow sat up, having come to seconds earlier. She
quickly took it all in. She pointed at Raine, softly
speaking. "A man he was, and dust he'll be," her voice
was rising, "BE NO MORE SAYS LITTLE OLD ME!"
One nanosecond he was there, the next he wasn't.
Giles stared in wonder at the floor where Ethan had been.
Xander looked at Willow. "Little old me? Are those the
new magic words?"
Willow just smiled and shrugged. "He pissed me off,
too."
Faith moved over to the spot, rubbing it with her
boot. "Red? Where'd he go? Can he get back?"
Willow sighed. "I got rid of the demon that had him.
Ethan's somewhere far away. He won't be bothering us
again for a long time. A very long time.."
Just then, they heard a muffled cry come from
another room. Hurrying in, they found a very young Slith
bound and gagged in a corner.
Giles released the child thing, and tried to comfort it.
While they were discussing taking him back to his home,
three mature Slith walked around the corner. Soundlessly,
two of them took the child and left. The third took
Willow aside and placed it's head against hers. Willow
smiled. The Slith returned her smile, then followed the
others from the building.
"What was that about," asked Buffy.
"He gave me John's memories. I can't access them, but
I can give them back to John."
Laura squealed in delight. "Let's go. I want my
husband back!"
As they all made their way to the warehouse exit,
Giles held Willow back. "Willow, I don't know what
happened here, but I have a feeling your training just
came in more handy than I ever would have imagined." He
pulled her into a quick hug. "I'm very proud of you."
Back at the Summer's house, everyone gathered around
Willow and John. The witch placed her forehead against
John's, much like the Slith had done to her. She whispered
some words to John, words that no one else could hear.
When she was done, John went to sleep.
"Well, that's it. All we can do now is wait for him
to wake up."
Laura sat on the bed. "I'm going to lay with him and
wait."
Her daughter sat on the other side. "I want to sit,
too, ok?"
The Scoobies gave the family some privacy, going back
downstairs.
Xander said his goodbyes, heading home. Willow asked
if she could join him.
Left alone, Buffy waited for Giles to finish his
phone call.
Giles hung up the phone almost an hour later. Buffy
knew from the look on his face that something was wrong.
She sat next to him, waiting.
"Buffy, they were wrong. The pregnancy theory is a
fake."
"A fake? What do you mean?"
"That was Amberly. It would seem Merrick
fabricated the whole story. The Council found another
journal. Merrick tells how he tried to free his slayer,
to get her out of the Council's grasp. He didn't know how
they would react to the pregnancy. An accident gave him a
way out. It seems that the idea of a pregnant slayer
truly was troublesome to the Council of that day. They
found an electrical demon to kill her. Someone informed
Merrick of the plan. He watched as Laura died at the
hands of the demon. He then killed the demon and
resuscitated Laura. He told the Council that she was dead
and made arrangements to keep her from being found. He
didn't have the heart to tell her that she had died, even
for a moment. When she wanted to know how she could
possibly give up slaying, he concocted the whole pregnancy
story."
A startled cry made the Slayer and Watcher turn.
They saw Laura standing behind them.
"I remember! I was fighting a vamp and was grabbed
from behind. When I woke up, he told me I was unconscious
for a few minutes. It wasn't too long after that that he
forced me into that van with John and chased us away.
Why? Why would he do that?"
Buffy went to the older woman, putting her arms
around her for comfort. "Trust me, it was probably better
that way. I've died twice, remember? It's not easy to
live with. It's really hard to keep on going when you
know you've already defeated all this slayer crap. I
can't tell you how many times I almost let myself get
killed when I was fighting. All because I wanted some
peace in my life. I can't imagine trying to deal with
that and with being pregnant at the same time. I knew
Merrick. He was a good man. He did what he thought was
best for you."
"You're right. I'll get over it. I have to. I came
down to tell you that Ari's waking up."
Giles stood up. "That's good. I'll come up shortly
and check on him."
When Laura was out of sight, Buffy had a question for
Giles. "If it's true, if it was all a lie, I'm bothered
by something. Why didn't the Council find out it was a
lie sooner? I just don't feel right about this. I don't
know. Maybe it's because I like the idea that there is a
way out, that I was almost out when I was-" she paused.
"When I was pregnant. Maybe it's just wishful thinking."
Giles held out a hand, helping Buffy to her feet. "I
would guess that that's exactly what it is. You're
bringing up old feelings over the child you lost. I would
imagine that it is indeed 'wishful thinking.' Amberly saw
the journal, the one with the confession. She was quite
pleased to find that the Council could stop worrying about
the secret, the pregnancy clause as it were, would be
found out."
Buffy shrugged. "I guess. Come on, let's go check
on John."
The Watcher watched her walk away. She had grown so
much since he first met her. He had done the right thing,
leaving her and Dawn. She had grown so much. He'd
learned a lot about her in the last few days. He couldn't
imagine living with the loss of a child, an unborn child
at that. That wasn't quite true. He had lived with
losing a child. Twice. He'd be sure to tell her that he
loved her before he returned home. Everything would be
fine. Life was almost good for a change. It was good to
know that there was such a thing as a happy ending.
-------------------------------------
On some deserted island, in the middle of some ocean, Ethan
Raine was calling out for help. He'd awakened, surrounded
by nonperishable food items, a small hut, and everything else
he'd need to survive on the island. The only thing he didn't
have was the knowledge of how he'd ended up on the
island to start with. Come to think of it, he didn't remember
much of anything that had happened in the last fifteen years
or so.
------------------------------------------
Thousands of miles away, across the Atlantic Ocean, on
a hill overlooking miles and miles of empty fields, stood
a castle. In the highest window of the highest turret of
the castle, a light shined through. In the room from
which the light came, a woman sat behind a large mahogany
desk. She looked up as the man walked into the room.
"I have them, Miss."
She held out her hand. "Let me see them." She took
the two leather bound books from her assistant. Opening
them, she compared the handwriting. She could see no
difference in the two, and she was trained to see any such
differences. Keeping one of the books, she handed the
original back to her assistant.
"Here. Put this in the fire."
"I beg your pardon, Miss?"
"You heard me. Put it in the fire. Make sure it
burns. I don't want anyone else getting their hands on
it. That damned pregnancy has cost us enough. I don't
plan on losing anymore because of it."
The assistant did as he was told. He placed the book
in the middle of the fire, using the poker to ensure that
every page burned. When there was no evidence of the
journal, the woman dismissed the assistant.
Turning back to her desk, she opened the magnificent
copy of Merrick's journal. She put the other book back
in her desk drawer, locking the drawer with the only key
there was. As she stood up, ready to go home, she
smiled. Yes, Amberly Hampton was extremely pleased
with herself.
END (?)
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