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Title: I'll Be Seeing You
Author: Karen U
E-mail: ksu2@juno.com
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All BtVS and Angel characters belong to Joss Whedon, the WB, and
Fox
Distribution: W/Gr List Archive, Witch Fan Fic, Charity
Summary: Four people go on an unexpected trip
Spoilers: Through a New Man (meaning Willow and Graham have never met) and
Expecting; no specific spoilers after that

Prologue

The wind howled as it shook the trees’ limbs. The moon shone brightly,
leaving odd shadows dancing across the ground. The night was eerie and
carried a surreal, horror movie quality. No one in their right mind would
venture out on a night like this.

It suited his purposes perfectly.

The man knelt in the circle he had created, a rather intense expression on
his face. He had set up protective wards before beginning his work, though
he knew they were unnecessary. No demon would come out tonight, and many
had fled Sunnydale altogether. It was just too dangerous for them.

He, on the other hand, was human. And therefore safe from the demon
hunters.

However, that didn’t mean that they were safe from him.

A wicked grin crossed his face as he set up the materials for the spell,
unobserved by anything but the moon and the trees. As he finished setting
up his supplies, he began to chant softly. Almost immediately, the winds
inside the circle he had built calmed, leaving a creepy calmness surrounding
the man. The spell he was trying was very delicate, and it wouldn’t do to
have the ingredients blowing away.

He looked down at the photographs that lay before him and commended himself
on his choices. The Slayer and her boyfriends - both past and present -
would be completely at a loss if the spell worked.

And he would be free to wreak havoc while they were so unfortunately
distracted.

He laughed softly as he began to mix the ingredients. The Slayer. That
silly chit would have no idea what hit her.

And neither would good old Rupert.

He arranged the herbs just right, then proceeded to light the candles,
softly murmuring the words of the spell. He mixed the last of the
ingredients in the glass, laughing delightedly as the contents began to
smoke. He lifted the glass to his lips, bracing himself for the taste of
the rather disgusting concoction as he continued to chant. His voice grew
in volume as he chanted the words of the spell a fourth time, then threw his
head back and downed the brew in a single gulp. The candles flared
brightly, seemingly out of control, and lightning bounced across the
otherwise clear sky as the herbs began to smoke and burn, eventually
dissolving into dust. The pictures in the circle vibrated harshly before
spontaneously catching fire and turning into wrinkled curls of burnt paper.
After a moment, the candles burned out abruptly, leaving the man in complete
darkness, save for the slight glowing of the coin in the center of the
circle. The spell was complete, and he was sure it had been successful.

Ethan Rayne smiled as four people disappeared from their beds.

Part One

"But wasn’t what John Watson did unethical?" a student questioned.

"Extremely so, at least by today’s standards. He took a young child, a
toddler really, and purposely instilled a phobia within that child. To make
matters worse, Watson never reversed the phobia. Little Albert was placed
back into the orphanage and later adopted. No one knows what happened to
him," the professor informed the class.

"Was Watson fired?" another student asked.

"Eventually, yes, he was fired from Johns Hopkins, although not for that.
He later got caught doing a study on human sexuality with his research
assistant, and well, let’s just say that research wasn’t exactly sanctioned.
I don’t think his wife appreciated it, either," she told the class,
causing them to laugh.

Suddenly, the woman collapsed in mid-stride, holding her head and
shuddering. Immediately, several students in the front row rushed to her
side.

"Professor, are you okay?"

Willow Rosenberg opened her eyes slowly. She saw the concern on the
person’s face and realized that the girl was talking to her. Professor?
The last thing she remembered was going to bed the night before, and now she
was suddenly on her knees in the front of a classroom, and people were
calling her professor.

"I’m, I’m okay," she responded, stunned by the fact that the voice that came
from her was her own. What the hell was going on here? If she’d switched
bodies with someone, why didn’t she have that person’s voice?

"Are you sure?" another student, this one male, asked worriedly.

"Yes, yes," Willow replied sitting back on her heels, then rising slowly.
The female student that had first spoken to her grasped her arm and helped
her up, then released her once she realized that Willow was indeed steady.
"I just got... dizzy for a moment. That’s all. I really am fine.
However," she continued as she went to stand behind the podium, "given the
circumstances, I’m sure you will understand if I dismiss class for the day."

The students nodded and left quickly while Willow stared down at the papers
sitting on the table by the podium. They were ungraded, and they were quite
obviously psychology papers, but that wasn’t what caught her attention.

What caught her attention was the date on the papers.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Cordelia Chase walked briskly across the college campus, trying desperately
not to appear as frightened or lost as she really was. She knew that Buffy
and her friends went to school at UC-Sunnydale, and she hoped and prayed
that she would be able to find one of them and have everything explained to
her. She stopped for a moment and scanned the crowd, fiddling with the
diamond ring that was on the third finger of her left hand. She had just
about given up when she saw a somewhat familiar redhead walking away from
one of the lecture halls. She stared intently for a moment. It was quite
obviously Willow, only... not. However, she had seen herself in the mirror,
and Cordelia knew that she looked a bit different, too.

"Willow!" she called out. "Willow, wait up."

Willow turned at the sound of her name, her jaw nearly dropping to her chest
when she realized who was approaching her. It was quite obviously Cordelia
Chase. He hair might be several inches shorter, but it was still her.

And she was pregnant.

Cordelia stopped in front of Willow and immediately saw the same wide-eyed
confusion that she knew must be reflected in her own eyes. "Willow, is
that really you?"

"What year is it?" the redhead asked randomly.

"Well, it was the year 2000 when I went to bed last night, but I’m not sure
anymore. The calendar in my office said 2010."

Smiling, the redhead pulled Cordy into a hug. "So it happened to you, too."
She pulled back and looked at Cordelia, her eyes resting on the girl’s
rounded belly. "What exactly is it that happened to you, anyway?"

Cordelia shrugged. "Apparently I’m pregnant." But," she continued as she
showed Willow her hand, "I seem to be married, though, so I guess it’s not
too bad. And I own a clothing store, which is where I came from. How about
you?"

"I’m a psychology professor." She glanced down at the sparkling diamond
that was on her own finger. "And apparently, I’m married, too. I wonder
who to?"

"We could go to your house and find out. That is, if we knew where your
house was."

Willow quickly dropped her briefcase and opened her purse, pulling out her
wallet and checking her driver’s license. "Ooh, I know where this is."

Cordy looked at the address on the license and whistled softly. "Isn’t that
one of those old, expensive houses across town?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. You’ve really done well for yourself."

Willow smiled slightly. "If it’s really even us. Or our world."

"True. But what if this is our world... just, the future?"

"I don’t know. All I know is that I really want to get back to where we
belong."

"Me, too. I’ve been pregnant before, and I had no intention of getting
pregnant again. At least, not so soon." At Willow’s questioning glance,
the brunette shrugged. "I’ll explain it to you later. For now, let’s go to
your place and try to figure out just what the hell is going on."

"Good idea," Willow replied as she gathered her things and set off in the
direction of her new home.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Forrest Gates pulled himself up off the floor and looked at his friend. It
was definitely Graham, only older, more mature somehow.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked.

Graham Miller shook his head, trying to shake out the cobwebs. He looked
around, surprised to discover that they were in a home office of some sort.
He stood slowly and reached out to take a book off the desk. It was
obviously a horror novel of some sort, and he opened it to the back, not
really expecting to find anything.

His eyes widened as he saw the pictures of the authors staring back at him.

It was him and Forrest.

"Oh, my God," he murmured, showing the book to Forrest, who just stared at
it for a moment before walking around the room curiously. Seeing nothing
that would clue them in as to what had happened, the men continued on,
heading out of the room. They walked down the hall slowly, both looking at
the pictures that adorned the wall. There were several of Graham with a
woman who looked slightly familiar, as well as a few of Forrest with a woman
he was sure he’d never seen before in his life. There were other photos as
well, some of people they recognized, some of strangers. The most shocking,
however, was the wedding photo of Graham and the young woman at the end of
the hall. Both Forrest and Graham reflexively looked down at their hands,
surprised to discover that they were both wearing wedding bands. Before
they could process that information, they heard the sound of the front door
opening. They both froze.

"Hello?" a decidedly feminine voice called out. "Is anyone here?"

Part Two

February 2000

Buffy burst into the apartment breathing heavily, panic in her eyes.

"Willow’s missing."

"What?" Giles exclaimed, getting up from the couch and walking over to the
Slayer. Xander dropped his candy bar and left it where it landed, and Anya
turned the television off and turned to face the blonde.

"Willow," Buffy said again. "It’s, she’s... she’s missing."

"Are you certain about that?" Giles asked reasonably. "Maybe she just
didn’t come home last night."

"Ooh. Score one for the Willster," Xander said with a smirk, reaching down
and picking up his candy bar. He quickly checked it for dirt, then
continued eating it. Anya eyed him with distaste.

"You are not kissing me until you brush your teeth," she told him. "That is
just... ew."

Buffy ignored the others and focused solely on her former Watcher, pleading
for guidance with her eyes. "That’s just it, Giles. I know she came home
last night. We watched a movie, then we said goodnight, turned off the
lights, and went to sleep. She was there when I went to sleep Giles. And
she wasn’t there this morning when I woke up."

"Buffy," Giles told the young girl gently, trying to reassure her, "isn’t it
possible that she just got up and left before you woke up?"

Buffy shook her head emphatically. "She planned to sleep late today. Then
we were going to go shopping. She would have left a note if she had gone
anywhere. Besides that, her bed isn’t made. She always makes her bed."

"That’s true," Xander interjected. Over the fifteen years he and Willow had
been friends, he had been in her room dozens of times. Not once had it been
even the least bit messy.

Giles paused and pushed his glasses up farther on his nose. "What about her
parents? Other friends, perhaps? Have you talked to them?"

"Her parents are out of the country, and no one in the dorm’s seen her
today."

"Not even to leave? Or, perhaps, get taken?" the former Watcher ventured as
he began to get worried.

"I don’t think she was taken," Buffy told him. "There wasn’t any sign of a
struggle or anything. No one saw her at all, much less with anyone else.
She’s just gone."

"What about Spike?" Anya piped up suddenly. The others turned to stare at
her, and the former demon hastily continued. "He gets along with Willow
better than he does any of us. Maybe she needed help and went to him."

Buffy nodded. It wasn’t much of a possibility, but she had to cover all her
bases. "I’ll go find Spike. Xander, you go beat up Willie the Snitch.
Anya can go check out the magick shops, see if anyone has seen Willow.
Giles, you stay here. Just in case she comes back." The others accepted
Buffy’s plan without question and nodded their acquiesce.

A grim look on her face, Buffy headed out to find Spike.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Angel pounded on Cordelia’s door, then stepped back and looked at Wesley.

"This is the second time in less than a month that this has happened," the
vampire commented tightly.

"Yes, well, last time she was pregnant," Wesley reminded him calmly. The
men exchanged a look, and Angel immediately broke the lock on the door and
strode inside.

"I hope to God that this time she just overslept," Angel said as he stepped
inside the eerily quiet apartment. The two men walked briskly to Cordelia’s
bedroom door and stopped outside of it, suddenly reluctant to continue on
their quest. They listened at the door for a moment, ascertaining
absolutely no sign of life. The vampire and the former Watcher exchanged an
uneasy look, then braced themselves for the worst as Angel opened the door.
They weren’t, however, prepared for what they found.

Nothing.

The bed was unmade, obviously slept in, yet there was no sign of life in the
room. Angel walked through the apartment quickly, searching for any sign of
a struggle; not sure rather to be relieved or more worried when he found
none. There were absolutely no clues as to where Cordelia was. She had,
quite simply, disappeared.

His hand shaking, Angel reached for the phone, prepared to call the only
people he could count on to help him.

The Scooby Gang.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Riley Finn knocked on the apartment door, then simply opened in and walked
in. Rupert Giles calmly said goodbye to whoever he was talking to, then
hung up, turning his attention to the young man in front of him.

"May I help you?"

"It’s Forrest and Graham. My friends. They’re missing."

"Missing?" Giles repeated. "As in, no sign of where they may be?"

"Right," Riley confirmed with a nod. Giles gestured for him to sit down,
and Riley did so without question. He knew Buffy trusted this Englishman,
and he needed all the help he could get. "Forrest and Graham were supposed
to go to the gym with me this morning, and neither one showed. And these
are punctual guys. Besides, they would tell me if something came up, and
they couldn’t make it. They weren’t in their rooms, and there was no sign
of where they went. And Graham’s bed wasn’t even made, which isn’t like
him."

"Good Lord, it’s an epidemic," Giles muttered as he wearily rubbed his hand
over his face.

"Excuse me?"

Giles turned to face the young man. "You’re friends aren’t the only ones
who have disappeared. So far, there’s a total of four people who are
missing."

"Oh, God."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Shut the bloody door, would you?" Spike said nastily as Buffy burst in.

"Where is she, Spike?"

"Who, pet?"

"Willow. Where is she?"

"You think I know where the little witch is? Well, we do have our little
rendezvous at eleven every night-"

"This is serious. She’s missing."

"And you think I have her," Spike responded dully, inexplicably hurt by the
accusation.

"No! It’s just, I hoped she would be here."

"Good Lord, Slayer, you are desperate if you hoped Red ended up here. When
did you see her last?"

Buffy bit her lip and looked up at the vampire. "Last night. We went to
sleep, and she was gone when I woke up. There’s no sign of her. Not a
note, nothing."

Spike looked down at his feet, then at the patch of light that filtered in.
He liked the little witch, as much as he hated to admit it, and he didn’t
want to see her hurt. "Look, Buffy, I’ll help look for her tonight when the
sun isn’t so deadly. That is, if you still need me. Maybe she’ll show up
before then."

"I hope so. Thanks, Spike," Buffy said as she headed to the door. Just
before she left, she paused, turning to look at the vampire with a slight
smile on her face. "Eleven o’clock rendezvous?" she questioned.

Spike returned the smile with a smirk of his own. "It was a joke, Slayer."

"It better have been. Otherwise, I’d have to stake you."

Part Three

March 2010

Willow smiled slightly at the two men in the living room. They were both
handsome, but she had no idea who they were. She just hoped that they
didn’t realize that.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," Graham replied. He was at a complete loss as to what to say to the
lovely woman before him. She had red hair that was currently pulled into a
French twist, and she wore a long dress and carried a briefcase. She was
quite obviously the woman in the pictures that covered much of the wall. He
bit his lip, trying to figure out how to break the news of what had
happened. He couldn’t exactly toss out ‘hey, I think I’m your husband, but
I’m from ten years ago.’ Nope, no way. She’d have him committed in an
instant. He didn’t particularly care to spend the rest of his life in a
room with rubber walls.

Willow saw the uncertainty in the man’s eyes and she bit her own lip,
deciding to take a chance. She didn’t exactly have anything to lose. "You
have no idea who we are, do you?"

Graham’s eyes widened at the question. "Not really," he replied quietly.
"I’m sorry."

"Okay then," Willow said as she set her purse and briefcase down. "It looks
like we’re in the same boat. What year was it when you guys went to bed
last night?"

"Two thousand. February eleventh, to be exact."

"And now it’s March of the year 2010," Willow said softly. "Well, guys,
welcome to the future, I guess. I’m Willow Rosenberg, and this is Cordelia
Chase. It looks like we’re your partners in this little misadventure."

Graham felt a spark of memory at the redhead’s name, but decided to pursue
it later. They had more pressing concerns right now. Like introducing
themselves and figuring out what was going on. "I’m Graham Miller, and this
is Forrest Gates. I think we’re your-"

"Husbands," Willow finished for him. "Cordelia’s driver’s license says her
name’s Gates, and mine says my name is Willow Miller, so I guess we’re
married now. Or in this world, or whatever this is. Anyway, I think we’re
supposed to be married," she finished, flustered.

Graham moved so that she could see the wedding portrait that hung on the
wall behind him. "I’d say that’s a yes."

Willow approached the picture slowly, staring at it as if in awe. She
really was married, at least in this time. She looked over at the
attractive man beside her, surprised to find him staring at her as well.
They smiled at each other tentatively, then went back to studying the
portrait.

Forrest stood staring at the woman in front of him, shocked. Actually, he
wasn’t staring at her, per se. He was staring at her belly. Her gently
rounded, quite obviously pregnant belly. "You didn’t by any chance look
like that when you went to bed last night, did you?" he asked the pretty
brunette.

Cordelia slowly placed her hand on her abdomen, then shook her head. "No,"
she said softly, "I didn’t. I guess when I went into my future self’s body,
I got everything that went with it. Including this."

Forrest approached her slowly, placing his hand on over Cordelia’s. "So, I
guess this baby is mine. Technically."

"I guess so. Technically."

Smiling slightly, Forrest took Cordelia by the hand and led her over to the
wall where Graham and Willow stood, studying photographs.

"Hey, that’s Buffy!" Cordy exclaimed, touching a picture of the blonde
Slayer with an attractive blonde man. "Who’s the guy?"

"That’s Riley," Willow responded before either Forrest or Graham could
speak. "That’s who she’s dating right now. Or back then. Or, you know
what I mean." Willow looked at the picture again. It was obviously a few
years down the road from their time; Buffy and Riley both wore wedding
bands. "I guess they really lasted," she murmured
quietly.

Graham shook himself out of his surprise induced stupor to look at Willow.

His wife.

Woah, what a thought. But back to the point.

"You know Riley and Buffy?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah. Buffy’s my roommate; we’ve been friends since Buffy moved to
Sunnydale our sophomore year of high school. Cordelia went to high school
with us."

"Willow Rosenberg," Forrest said quietly. "Now I know where I’ve heard that
name! You helped Riley with Buffy!"

Willow smiled at the man. "I guess you could say that," she allowed. "I
take it you two are friends of Riley’s?"

"The best of," Forrest confirmed. "We’ve been buds since we were freshman."

"Does that mean you’re part of the Initiative, too?" the redhead asked
politely, causing both men’s mouths to open in shock.

"What? How? What?" Forrest replied dumbly.

"How do you know about the Initiative?" Graham asked calmly.

Willow shrugged, then went to sit on the couch, gesturing for the others to
join her. Graham and Cordelia sat beside her, while Forrest sat near them
in one of the recliners. "I guess we’re going to have to be completely
honest with each other, seeing as how we’re going to have to depend on each
other to get through this. Agreed?"
She looked to the others, silently asking them to answer her affirmatively.

Forrest and Cordy nodded immediately, and Graham spoke softly. "Agreed."

"Good. Um, my friends and I have known about the Initiative since around
November. Buffy ran into one of the guys in the woods."

"Why was she in the woods?" Cordelia asked.

"Oz and Veruca," was all Willow said.

"Oh," Cordelia said knowingly, nodding her head. She and Willow had had a
bit of a heart to heart on their way to Willow’s - well, Willow and Graham’s
- house, and the whole Oz debacle was just one of the things they had
discussed. Cordelia’s experience being pregnant with more than half a dozen
baby demons was another.

"Anyway," Willow continued, "it wasn’t until around January that we found
out that Riley was a part of the Initiative."

"How’d you find out?"

"Well, um, we’re kind of into the supernatural, too. We fight the bad guys.
When we don’t accidentally end up dating them, that is," she amended,
thinking of the collective past of the Scooby Gang. She’d had an Internet
relationship with a demon, Xander had dated an Incan mummy, and Cordy had
ended up with a guy who worshipped demons.
Not much of a track record. And that was just a few of incidents. "I guess
you could say we’re a little supernatural ourselves. I’m a witch, and
Cordelia has visions of the future." The men turned to stare at the
brunette who nodded slightly.

"It’s true," she said. She and Willow had discussed the visions at length
during their trip to the house.

"And then there’s Buffy," Willow added, once again drawing the attention
back to herself.

"What about her?" Graham asked, suspicious.

"You ever heard of the Slayer?"

"That’s a myth," Forrest retorted.

"Actually, no it’s not," Cordelia replied. "It’s a Buffy."


Part Four

February 2000

"This is so not happening," Buffy muttered, burying her face in her hands.
She was sitting in Giles’s recliner across from Riley. She had told the men
that Spike’s had been fruitless, and she was now going from panic to
despair.

"Yes, well, that will make everything go away. Just say it can’t happen,
and it won’t," Giles replied sarcastically. He shook his head, a bit
chagrined over his outburst. "I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have said
it. It wasn’t fair."

"It’s okay," Buffy told him. "I know you’re just worried. We all are."
Sighing, Buffy stood and went over to the window, pulling the curtain back
and staring outside as if it would make the others return faster. After a
moment, she turned and looked at the men in the room. "Shouldn’t Xander and
Anya be back by now? They left at the same time I did."

"And you didn’t get any news." Riley shrugged. "Maybe that’s what is
taking them so long; they found something out."

"Either that or they stopped off to have sex," the Slayer grumbled.

Giles nodded. "That isn’t fair Buffy. Xander cares very deeply about
Willow, and you know that. He would never do something like that when she
could be in danger."

"He had sex with Faith that night last year when the Hellmouth almost
opened."

"Yes, well, let’s pretend you didn’t remind me of that. Besides, what Riley
suggested is possible. Willie may know something, especially if it was
something supernatural that happened. He does have an uncanny knack for
knowing what is going on in this place."

"Whatever happened is definitely freaky," Buffy admitted. "I mean, three
people suddenly disappearing without a trace? It’s no coincidence."

"Four," Giles reminded her gently. "Four people have disappeared without a
trace. Remember, Cordelia’s missing as well."

"Are we sure she didn’t just up and leave? She is kind of a flake.
Besides, she is all the way out in LA. This seems more like a Hellmouth
thing."

Giles removed his glasses briefly and cleaned them, then put them back on.
"I don’t think that’s the case this time. According to Angel, Cordelia’s
very rarely late for work, and she always calls when she is. Well, except
for once. And there were... let’s just say... supernatural reasons then.
Weird things happen in LA just as easily as they do here. Some of the
things Angel’s told me about were very Hellmouthy, so to speak."

"You talk to Angel?" Buffy asked in surprise.

"Well, yes, I do. That’s generally how he tells me things," the former
Watcher said wryly. "We haven’t quite mastered that telepathy thing just
yet."

"Very funny. That was a joke, wasn’t it? The telepathy thing?"

"Yes, Buffy, it was a joke," Giles replied before muttering, "A rather
wasted one."

"Oh. Well, good joke. Anyway, I just meant that I was surprised that you
and Angel keep in contact. But I’m glad. You know, pooling our resources
and all that. Do you really think this thing or whatever took Cordy, too?
I mean, she is out in LA."

"LA isn’t all that far from Sunnydale, and we don’t know when she was
actually taken. We really don’t even know if they were taken. They seem to
have simply disappeared from the face of the earth."

"With a little help from their friends?" Buffy asked.

"Precisely."

"Hey, Giles," Xander said as he walked in, Anya right behind him. "Hey,
Buffy, Riley. Riley? What are you doing here? Did he become part of the
Scooby Gang and someone forgot to tell me?"

Buffy sent Xander a glare, then gestured for him and Anya to sit down. The
two did so quickly, and Buffy began to explain. "It seems that Willow’s
disappearance isn’t the only thing going on at the Hellmouth."

"Meaning?" Xander prompted.

"Forrest and Graham, my two best friends, are missing, too. It seems that
whatever happened to Willow happened to them as well."

"And to Cordelia as well," Giles put in quietly. "Angel called me a little
while ago with the news."

"Speaking of news," Anya began, only to be interrupted by her boyfriend.

"But why them?" Xander asked. "I mean, what’s the connection? Obviously,
Graham and Forrest are connected. They’re best friends, and I assume
they’re commando guys like Riley here," he said, looking at the young man
for confirmation. Riley nodded affirmatively and Xander continued. "And
Willow and Cordy, I guess you could say the Scooby Gang’s their connection."

"Which gives us a connection among the four of them," Riley interrupted.

"Huh?" Xander replied.

"I’m assuming that the Scooby Gang is what you call the people who help
Buffy. Therefore it means you fight evil. Demons, vampires, whatever. And
from what Giles said earlier, it sounds like Cordelia is out in LA, still
fighting evil. And then there’s the Initiative. We track the hostiles,
take them down. There’s a connection right there. I mean, if I were a
hostile of some kind, I’d want to take them out. All four of them."

"Um, guys?" Anya said, only to be ignored once again. She sighed and began
to tap her foot, obviously annoyed.

"But why them?" Buffy asked. "It doesn’t make sense. Why not take me and
Angel instead of Willow and Cordelia?"

"Maybe because they knew how badly it would effect you and Angel to take
them," Giles said thoughtfully.

"Then why Forrest and Graham? That wouldn’t effect Buffy and Angel," Xander
protested.

"But it would effect Riley," Anya said almost too softly to be heard.

"What do you mean?" Riley asked as he turned to face the girl.

"I mean, that whoever is doing this is after all of you. Not just Angel,
not just Buffy, not just you. All three of you."

"And you know this why?" Xander asked. Anya hadn’t said anything about this
on their way back to the apartment.

"Old receipts at the magick shop. Xander’s told me a lot about the things
you guys fought in high school, and I know that Ethan Rayne showed up
several times. He would know about both Buffy and Angel, right?"

"Angel did help with that whole Eyghon thing," Xander reasoned.

"And he came back not long ago and turned Giles into a demon. Which is when
he met you," Anya said nodding to Riley.

"But we took him into custody," the blonde man protested.

"Maybe you couldn’t keep him there," Anya said. She reached into her pocket
and pulled out a charge slip that she’d swiped from one of the magick shops
she had been to. It was dated two days before.

And it was signed by Ethan Rayne.

Part Five

March 2010

Graham and Forrest sat in stunned silence, trying to process the information
they had just received. They didn’t doubt the words of the girls - women -
sitting with them, but it was still hard to accept. Willow and Cordelia had
just finished recounting several of their adventures helping Buffy - the
tiny, blonde Slayer, believe it or not - and the men were in awe. Nothing
they had seen or done in their years with the Initiative could compare to
what the two women had experienced in high school. It was virtually
unbelievable, but they still believed every word the women had said. Why
else would they be taking the unexpected turn of events they were currently
facing so well? They had been tossed ten years into the future - one of
them pregnant - and met their "husbands," and neither one had so much as
shed a tear, much less freaked out. Graham found himself admiring both of
them for their bravery, especially when he himself was scared half to death.

"So what now?" Forrest finally asked, breaking the silence that had settled
over them. "I mean, now we know where each of us is coming from, but where
does that leave us? We still don’t know how we got here, or even why we’re
here. And is this the future, or just some sort of alternate reality like
where that vampire version of Willow was from?"

"That’s what we have to find out," Willow answered softly. "I mean how we
got here is pretty easy - it was probably done magickally. There really
isn’t any other explanation for it."

"You didn’t happen to be doing any spells last night, did you, Wills?"
Cordelia asked hopefully, earning a glare from the redhead.

"No," she said a bit defensively. "Buffy and I watched a movie last night,
then went to bed. There was absolutely no magick involved."

"Okay, okay! Just asking. Besides, it would have helped with the whole
magick thing if it had been you. I mean, the why, as in why we’re here,
would have been a whole heck of a lot easier to answer. It would have been
an accident."

"It could have still been an accident," Willow said thoughtfully. "Just not
one of mine. I mean, Sunnydale has a lot of magick shops. It probably has
a lot of novice spellcasters as well."

"But why us?" Forrest asked.

"That I can’t answer."

"And it also could have been on purpose," Graham said quietly. "Someone who
has a vendetta against any of us, me and Forrest, you and Cordelia, even
Buffy and Riley, could have done this, and we could have gotten sucked into
it because of our connection to each other here in the future."

"Do you think it’s just us?" Cordelia asked. "Or do you think the others
are here, too?"

"Who knows?" Willow replied. "And how can we find out? If this isn’t our
world, and it happens to be, say, a world where witches are still burned at
the stake, we could all end up dead if we ask the wrong person."

"So we’re on our own," Graham muttered, not liking the feeling of
helplessness that surrounded the group. He wished there was something he
could do to fix things.

The four sat in silence once again until they heard a noise that had them
all snapping to attention.

The front door was opening.

The foursome leapt to their feet, and the men immediately stepped in front
of the women protectively. Graham turned when he felt Willow reach for his
hand, and she smiled at him gently.

"I really don’t think it would look good if someone comes in here and sees
you two guarding us like a couple of watchdogs. Makes it harder to convince
people that nothing’s wrong."

Graham smiled sheepishly, then moved so that he was beside Willow instead of
in front of her. He kept his grip on her hand, and the group waited
expectantly as the door opened fully and a person entered. Willow could
hardly contain her gasp of shock as a woman she had been afraid she would
never see again - at least, not in human form - entered, a bright smile on
her face.

Amy Madison.

"Hi, guys," the woman who was once again blonde said cheerfully as she
entered carrying a bundle that looked suspiciously like a sleeping child.
"I didn’t expect you to be here. Well, Cordy and Willow anyway. I knew
everyone’s favorite horror novelists would be here. How’s the book going?"
she asked.

"Just fine," Forrest told her, sharing a panicked glance with Graham. He
hoped the blonde woman that he was pretty darn sure he’d never met before
wouldn’t ask what the book was about.

"That’s great. I’m sure you’ll have it in by the deadline," she responded
with a grin, handing the bundle in her arms - which was indeed a child, a
little boy around two - to Forrest. She smiled at the group, but her smile
slowly faded as she took in the sight before her. The people in front of
her were her friends, she was certain of that, but there was definitely
something different about them. Something just a little... off. She saw
recognition and delight in Willow and Cordelia’s eyes, but that look was
absent from both Graham and Forrest. It was almost as if they didn’t know
her. "Guys? What’s wrong?" she asked quietly.

The women exchanged a nervous glance, trying to decide whether or not to
trust their old friend with the truth. However, before they could reach a
decision, something rather surprising happened.

Two little girls that were approximately three and five years old entered
the house, giggling to themselves. As they entered the living room, the
children looked up, and the older girl beamed, throwing herself at Willow.

"Mommy! You’re home! You’re never home when I get here!" she cried.
Flabbergasted, Willow lifted the girl in her arms, holding her tightly.
Mommy? Stunned, Willow glanced at Graham, but his attention was on the
other little girl, who was approaching him in much the same way the first
child approached Willow.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Are you and Uncle Forrest done for today?" she
asked as she wrapped her arms around his legs. Graham reached down and
lifted the child up, looking down into her face. She had dark red hair and
Willow’s lovely face, but the eyes were unmistakably his. He looked over at
Willow - his wife - and the second child. She, too, had a face that looked
very much like Willow’s, but both her hair and eyes obviously matched his.
Which should have been no surprise, considering the fact that he was their
father.

"Oh, my God," he whispered softly.

Part Six

February 2000

"It couldn’t be Ethan Rayne. He’s in the custody of the Initiative."

"Are you sure about that?" Buffy asked, staring at the charge slip in her
hand. The signature sure looked an awful lot like the one she’d seen just a
few weeks before.

"Buffy-"

"Have you seen him?"

Riley looked down at his hands, then spread them in a helpless gesture.
"Not since we took him in. But isn’t it possible that it’s someone else?"

Buffy held up the paper in her hand. "Charge slip from two days ago. If
he’s in your custody now, he should have been then, too."

"It could have been forged."

"By who?" Xander asked. Both Buffy and Riley turned to him in surprise. It
was fairly obvious that both the Slayer and her boyfriend had forgotten that
there were others in the room.

"What?" Riley asked, his mind not working as swiftly as normal.

"I said, ‘by who?’ I mean, how many people in Sunnydale know that there’s a
crazy Englishman that occasionally runs around town using his knowledge of
the darker magicks to generally wreak havoc? Not to mention the fact that
this person would also have to have some sort of grudge on Willow, Cordelia,
Forrest, and Graham," Xander asked reasonably.

"Indeed," Giles murmured quietly, then raised his voice a bit. "Xander is
right. For once."

"Well, I’ve filled my monthly quota," the teenager informed the others
proudly. Anya hit him with a pillow.

"Okay," Riley said with a sigh, "I see what you’re saying. I just think
it’s weird that I wasn’t informed of an escape, especially since I was there
when he was captured."

"Maybe they didn’t think it was important," Anya put in. "What with him
being human and all."

He hadn’t thought of that. "Damn it, you could be right." Riley put his
head in his hands briefly, then raised it to look at the others. "He isn’t
considered a hostile, not really. If he did escape, it wouldn’t exactly be
a code red." Sighing, Riley rose to his feet and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Buffy asked, following him to the door. Riley
stopped and turned to face the Slayer.

"The Initiative. There should be records of his capture and any escape. If
we know when and where he escaped from, it may help us a bit."

"How?"

"If he was held somewhere other than Sunnydale, we may be able to retrace
his steps from there back here. There could be a clue as to what he did."

Buffy nodded, then stood on her toes and kissed Riley briefly. "Hurry
back."

"I will."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Spike stared at the television screen. He was sitting on the floor of the
crypt, right in front of the small screen. Seeing as it was Saturday
morning, the blonde vampire was watching cartoons. He hated them. They
weren’t nearly violent enough for his tastes. Damn parental watch dog
groups and their policing of children’s shows. It just wasn’t bloody fair.

Sighing needlessly (and rather loudly), the vampire turned the television
off, then set to drumming his fingers against the floor. He tried out a few
different rhythms, trying desperately to amuse himself, then gave up. He
stood up and began to pace back and forth across the stone floor, then went
to the door. After pulling his duster over his head to protect himself from
the sun, he opened the door and stepped outside.

Then he headed for the Watcher’s apartment.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Riley shifted nervously from one foot to the other as he took the elevator
ride down to the Initiative’s main laboratory. He hoped he wouldn’t have to
face anyone down there. He knew Walsh wouldn’t be there today - she was off
in San Diego giving a lecture at some seminar - but there were still quite a
few other bigshots that he had to answer to. He didn’t think any of them
would take too kindly to the fact that two of the top agents had vanished
without a trace, and he didn’t particularly wanted to find out if he was
right about what their reactions would be.

As the elevator doors opened, Riley quickly turned to the left and headed
for the offices. He knew the computer system quite well, and was sure that
he could get the information he needed within the span of a few minutes.
Riley slowed to a stop as he came to Professor Walsh’s office, and he paused
briefly, muttering a quick prayer that he wouldn’t be caught doing this.
After glancing both ways to make sure that no one would see him, Riley
punched in the code that opened Walsh’s office, then entered the room and
shut the door behind him.

After taking one last glance to make sure the door was locked, he walked
over to the computer and got to work.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"You came out during the day in order to help?" Buffy asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, I did," Spike told her. He was currently standing outside of Giles’s
apartment with his duster over his head. "Now will you please step aside
and let me in?"

The Slayer stood in place for a moment, seemingly debating the question,
then stepped aside and allowed the blonde vampire to enter.

Xander stared at the new arrival. "I thought you were ignoring us."

"I was, until somebody burst into my crypt this morning telling me all about
how Willow had vanished without a trace. I told her I’d help."

Anya, Giles, and Xander looked to Buffy for confirmation. She nodded. "He
really did. Only he said he’d come by tonight, not today."

"What can I say? I got bored."

"Didn’t you say that to me once before?"

"I believe so. At parent/teacher night a couple years back."

"Oh, yeah, the night my mom hit you with an ax."

The vampire groaned. "Don’t remind me. It wasn’t exactly a shining moment
in my existence."

"Um, Spike?" Anya said, then paused waiting for the vampire turned to look
at her.

"What is it?"

"Have you ever had a shining moment when it comes to Buffy?"

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Riley tapped his foot a bit impatiently as he waited for the file on Ethan
Rayne to come up. When it did, he skimmed it quickly, copying down any
pertinent information as he went. Then he got to the end.

"Damn it," he muttered. "Anya was right. He did escape."

Shutting the computer off and looking around to make sure there wasn’t any
sign of his presence, Riley stuffed his notes in his pocket, then headed off
to find the Scooby Gang to inform them that Ethan had indeed escaped.

From right under his nose.

Part Seven

March 2010

Amy saw the utterly stunned look that Willow and Graham were sharing and
immediately went into action. Grinning brightly at the girls, she spoke.

"You know, I really need to talk to your parents."

"Oh, Aunt Amy," the older girl complained.

"I’ll tell you what. If it’s okay with your parents, I’ll conjure you up
some brownies, and you can have a snack while I talk to them." She looked
over at Willow. "Is that okay?"

Willow and Cordelia exchanged a glance and both women smiled. Amy’s use of
the word conjure had not slipped their notice, and they knew now that they
could indeed trust Amy with their secret. Willow smiled at Amy as she put
the child in her arms down. "That would be great. We need to talk to you,
too."

Flashing another smile, Amy reached for the child in Forrest’s arms, then
led the girls out of the room, saying, "I’ll just put him in one of the
girls’ room to finish his nap, then I’ll get right on the brownies."

As the blonde woman left the room, Forrest and Graham immediately turned to
face their wives. "How long does it take to make brownies?" Forrest asked.

"The way Amy makes them? Less than a minute," Willow told them. "When she
says she’s going to conjure something up, she really means it. She’s a
witch."

"So you know this woman back in our time? Or world, as it may be," Graham
clarified.

"Yeah. She’s a rat."

"A rat?" Forrest repeated. "As in, not a nice person?"

"As in whiskers and a tail," Willow replied. "I haven’t been able to
reverse the spell she cast on herself yet."

"And she turned herself into a rat why?" Graham put in.

"Well, Amy, Buffy, and I were getting burned at the stake just then, so I
guess she figured that was her best option."

"Okay, can I just say you have very odd friends?" Forrest muttered.

"Yeah, well, apparently, they’re your friends, too. Or at least they are
here," Cordelia reminded her husband.

"Okay, that’s done," Amy announced as she entered the living room. "And, I
sealed off the kitchen so that we can hear them, but they can’t hear us.
Now, what the hell is going on with you people?"

"Well, it’s a little hard to believe," Forrest said slowly.

Amy gave a little grin. "Try me. I’ve pretty much seen it all."

Sighing, Willow sat down on the couch, and Graham and Cordelia quickly sat
on either side of her while Forrest and Amy took the remaining chairs. "I
guess I’ll start," the redhead murmured, brushing a stray strand of hair
behind her ear. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Willow looked her
old friend in the eye, hoping that trusting her was the right thing to do.
"This isn’t our time, and we’re not even sure it’s our world."

"Oh, wow," Amy whispered, looking at each of her friends in turn. "When is
your time?"

"About ten years ago. February of 2000, to be exact," Graham replied.

"Which explains why you and Forrest don’t seem to recognize me. I was in
rat form until 2001. How did you get here? What spell did you use?"

"That’s just it. We didn’t do this. We have no idea why we’re here or how
we got here. Until today, Cordy and I had never even met Forrest and
Graham."

"Oh, yeah. When I became human again, you and Graham had only been involved
for a couple months, and Forrest and Cordy didn’t meet until a year later.
So, you had nothing to do with the spell that brought you here?"

"No."

"That makes it harder to send you back."

"I know," Willow replied.

Forrest, who had been trying to pay attention to the conversation between
the two witched and failing, finally gave in and asked the question that was
really on his mind. "That little boy... was he, is he, really mine and
Cordelia’s?"

Amy smiled gently. "If you’re from this world, but just a few years early,
then the answer is yes. Davis is two and a half."

Forrest smiled. "Davis, huh? That’s my mother’s maiden name."

"I know," Amy told him.

"And the girls? What are their names? How old are they?" Graham asked,
anxious to learn about his daughters.

"Kylia turned five in December, and Bailey just turned three."

"Pretty names," Cordelia murmured, smiling at the redhead beside her. She
was so happy for her friend, and happy for herself as well. It seemed that
maybe, just maybe, they would end up good life. She turned to Amy,
determined to find out more. "What else can you tell us?"

Amy thought for a moment. "Well, you and Forrest have been married for a
little over five years; your anniversary was in December." Cordelia smiled
at the news; she’d always wanted a wedding in the winter, preferably around
Christmas. It was nice to know that her dream had come true.

"Um, Willow and Graham will be celebrating their eighth anniversary in May,"
Amy continued. "They got married in 2002, right after Willow got her
bachelor’s. Obviously, Willow graduated a year early."

"Wow," the redhead in question whispered. She had never told anyone, not
even Buffy, but that was exactly what she had always planned to do.

"This is just weird," Graham said. "I mean, it’s nice to know things about
our future selves, but is it really a good idea? We could end up changing
things, altering them somehow."

"Don’t you think we’ve already done that just by being here?" Willow
reasoned. "Cordy and Forrest aren’t even supposed to meet until 2002, and
dear Lord, did they meet at our wedding?"

"Yes, they did," Amy confirmed.

"Wow. That is so cliché," Cordelia said with a grin. Sobering slightly,
she continued. "And I agree with Willow. We’ve obviously already altered
the future simply by meeting here instead of when we were originally
supposed to. I really don’t see a problem with finding out more about
ourselves. Unless, of course, we’re total losers. If that’s the case, I
just don’t want to know."

Willow sighed. "But Graham’s right in a way, too," she admitted. "We
should probably try as hard as we can not to alter the course of things and
simply try to get back home where we belong." She turned to Amy. "Will you
help us?"

The blonde nodded. "Of course I will. Angel might have some connections,
and I’ll call Anya and Xander later to see what they can find out. It can
be a pain in the butt to track Spike down, but I’m sure I can find him
around here somewhere. He’s usually pretty helpful with research. Giles is
in England visiting friends, so he won’t be available. But I’m sure Riley
will be glad to help."

Remembering the photographs of Buffy and Riley that adorned the wall, Willow
couldn’t stop herself from asking the question on her mind. "But what about
Buffy? Won’t she help as well?"

Amy’s eyes filled with sadness as she shook her head. "I’m sorry, Willow,
but Buffy died three years ago."

Part Eight

February 2000

Buffy tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for Riley to return. He’d been
gone for barely an hour, but it felt like a decade. "Where the hell is he?"
she finally burst out.

"He probably ran away to Vegas with some cheerleader with great legs, huge
boobs, and no brains," Spike told the Slayer, earning a glare from the girl.

"Very funny. If you keep up with the snide remarks, I’m going to stake
you."

"You know, Cordelia is missing, too. Maybe she’s the empty airhead
cheerleader that Riley took off with," Xander suggested.

Buffy turned to him. "Shut up, or I’ll stake you, too."

"You’d stake people who want to help you find Willow? Well, that’s bad
form," Spike told her.

"Fine. I won’t kill you until after we find Willow, and I’ll only injure
Xander severely. Is that better?"

"Much," the vampire replied. The group sat in silence for a moment until
Buffy sprang to her feet and went to the window.

"Shouldn’t he be back by know?"

"Oh, bloody hell, Slayer, he’ll get here when he gets here. Now sit back
down and be quiet! You’re driving me bloody insane!"

Sighing, Buffy sat down. "I know he’ll get here. Riley said he’d hurry,
and I’m sure he’s trying to. I just wish he’d hurry a little faster."

"How can you hurry faster? Isn’t hurrying already fast?" Anya questioned.

Before anyone could come up with a suitable answer, the door burst open, and
a rather distressed Riley entered.

"Did you find out anything?" Buffy asked as leapt up off the couch and went
over to him.

"Yeah, actually, I did. Although I’m not sure how much help it will be."
The young man surveyed the room as he spoke, apologizing with his eyes. He
froze as his gaze came to rest on the new addition to the group. Hair that
was nearly bleached white. A long, black, leather duster. The facial
features, even the damn scar through the eyebrow. It was unmistakable who
the man was.

Hostile seventeen.

"What the hell is he doing here?"

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, using the old ‘answer a question with a
question’ evasion technique. Unfortunately, it didn’t buy her enough time
to come up with a believable story (well, besides the truth, that is.)

"I mean, what the hell is Hostile Seventeen doing here?"

"That’s an excellent question. I was wondering that myself," Xander
informed the confused Initiative member.

"You’re not helping, Xander," the Slayer informed him with her best ‘shut up
or I will rip a new hole in your head’ look. Xander wisely shut up.

"Is anyone going to answer me?" Riley questioned, obviously more than a bit
put out.

"I think they’re trying to avoid that for as long as possible," Anya
informed him conspiratorially.

"I realize that, and I don’t particularly appreciate it," the young man
grumbled before raising his voice to be heard over the rest of the group.
"Now, I do have some new information, but you’re not getting it until I get
an explanation about Hostile Seventeen!"

The entire Scooby Gang stopped squabbling and turned to look at Riley,
trying to assess whether or not he would hold to the threat. He merely
raised his eyebrows at them, waiting.

"Fine," Buffy huffed. "I’ll talk. Although I don’t see why it’s so
important."

"You knew we were looking for him. He’s an escaped Hostile."

"Why do you call him a hostile?" Anya questioned curiously. "I mean, he
can’t bite anymore. Shouldn’t he be called a not-so-hostile?" The others
turned to stare at her. "What?" she asked. "It was a good question."

"She’s right, you know," Buffy said after a moment. At the disbelieving
stares from the others, she rushed to clarify her statement. "Not about the
good question theory. About the not-so-hostile theory. Spike is harmless.
He can’t even hit people. But he can still hurt demons, which makes him
useful to us."

"How can you trust him?"

"Let’s just say we go way back. Face it, we’ve tried to kill each other on
several occasions. But the point is, he can’t do that anymore. Besides
that, Spike actually wants to help find Willow. I couldn’t turn down that
offer."

Riley turned to look at the vampire. Spike was gazing at him calmly, not
even a hint of violence in his eyes. He simply seemed to be waiting for
Riley to announce his verdict. Sighing, Riley finally did. "It is hard to
turn down an offer of help; I understand that much. I still don’t get why
you hid him from me, but that can wait. Right now, we just need to get the
others back."

"What did you find out?" Xander asked. "Did Ethan really escape?"

"Yeah, he did."

"When?" Giles asked quietly, speaking for the first time.

"A week ago."

"I don’t get it," Spike said. He’d been filled in on who Ethan was, and he
was more than willing to share his opinion with the others. "I understand
why he may have chosen Red and the cheerleader, what with them being friends
of the Slayer, and therefore being part of the group that foils his every
plan. But the commando boys? Why would he choose them?"

"Yeah. Even if he chose them because of the Initiative, how would he know
to choose them in particular? Did he see them?" Xander put in.

"No. I checked, and they should have never come into contact with them,"
Riley answered.

"But he did see you," Giles said suddenly. "If he’s been out a week, he
could have easily seen you with the two of them."

"You think he was watching us?"

"I imagine he was. It’s something Ethan would do."

"But why? I don’t understand? Why would he do this to them?"

"Revenge on you," Xander supplied. "He would know how much it would hurt
you to take your friends. Same with Willow and Cordy. Revenge on the
Scooby Gang, from Giles and Buffy and all of us here in Sunnydale, all the
way over to LA and Angel. We’ve messed up his plans a few times, and trust
me, he hates us."

"Maybe it’s not entirely revenge," Buffy murmured as a new thought came to
her. "Maybe it’s a distraction. Ethan’s no fool. He knows we’ll do
anything to get our friends back. He could have taken them to distract us
from his real purpose. Remember the whole candy bar thing last year?
Making all the adults act like kids so that the mayor could get his
sacrifice? Distracting, well, everyone so that the real evil could be done?
Maybe that’s what’s happening this time, too."

"Good Lord, you could be right," Giles murmured. "What the hell is he up to
this time?"

"I don’t know," Buffy told her mentor. "But I’m sure as hell going to find
out."

Part Nine

March 2010

Amy watched, sadness apparent on her face, as the small group digested what
she had just told them. She hated telling them so abruptly about their
friend’s death, but she didn’t know any other way to do it. There was no
way around the simple fact that Buffy Summers Finn was dead, and she had
been for years.

Willow bit her lip as she looked down at her hands, which were folded in her
lap. She was wringing them slightly and blinking her eyes rapidly, trying
not to cry. She felt Graham’s arm come around her, pulling her gently
against him and placing her head on his shoulder. She burrowed into his
comfort, pressing her face into his chest as she tried to prevent the sobs
from coming. She couldn’t believe it. Amy had just said the words, but
they were unfathomable to her.

Buffy was dead.

Willow began to shake slightly as the words sank in. She had begun to like
this world. A marriage, two beautiful children, a wonderful job, good
friends. But now it was nothing, because her best friend was gone, and she
never even got to say goodbye. Willow took a gulping breath as she tried to
calm down. She had to fix things. She had to get back to her own time and
change things.

She couldn’t let Buffy die.

Graham rocked Willow back and forth slightly, feeling the fine trembling
that was making its way through her small frame. He hardly knew Buffy.
He’d seen her at frat parties and around Riley, but they’d never actually
been introduced. Still, his heart ached knowing that the small blonde - the
Chosen One - would be dead in seven years. God, she’d only be twenty-six
years old. Graham sighed as he pulled Willow even closer. It just wasn’t
fair.

"I’m so sorry," he whispered into Willow’s hair.

Cordelia sat in silence, stunned at the news. Never had it occurred to her
that Buffy would really die. Sure, she knew that Buffy had died sophomore
year, but that didn’t really count. She had come back. But now... she was
gone.

Forever.

Forrest reached out and took Cordelia’s hand as the brunette began to cry
silently. Like Graham, he hardly knew the Slayer. All he could really say
about her was that she was beautiful and incredibly lively. Lively. That
was the perfect word for the girl. She seemed to be always on the go. And
now she was dead. It seemed like such a tragic waste.

"How?" the question was asked quietly, and the word was slightly muffled
against Graham’s chest. Willow lifted her head slightly so that she could
face Amy, but stayed settled in Graham’s strong arms. She felt safe there.

"What?" Amy asked dumbly.

"How? How did it happen?" Willow bit her lip and took a slow breath to
compose herself. "How did Buffy die?"

"Do you really want to know that?"

"I have to know," the redhead said quietly but forcefully.

Amy nodded slowly, then began to tell the story. "It happened in January of
2007. It was really cold that winter, unusually so. It snowed for the
first time since December of 1998, which was before my little rat escapade.
Anyway, after a few weeks of cold weather, Giles became convinced that it
was unnatural, so we got together to research. It turned out that there
were several forms of demons that could cause the type of weather we were
seeing. Because we weren’t sure which one it was, we tracked it. The
demon’s lair was near the docks, which meant it was probably a water demon
of some kind. Water demons aren’t exactly known for being difficult kills,
so Buffy went out by herself to slay it."

"Only it wasn’t a water demon," Forrest said quietly.

Amy shook her head sadly. "Actually, it was. It was stronger than she
expected. She wasn’t prepared. She had fought a water demon before, about
three years earlier, and she had defeated it easily. However, it wasn’t
nearly as old as this one was. This particular one had at least three
centuries under its belt. She fought it and injured it, but it killed her.
It drowned her."

Willow shut her eyes and briefly buried her face in her hands. She couldn’t
belief that Buffy’s first death was the same as her final one.

Amy’s eyes grew even sadder as she continued. "Riley found her. When she
didn’t come home from patrol that night, he and Angel went looking for her.
They found her in the water; her body was nearly frozen. Riley lost it
completely, and Angel went ballistic and killed the demon, thus breaking the
spell that had caused the eternal winter. The sun was shining on the day
Buffy was buried."

Cordelia shivered at the words that came from Amy’s mouth. Because of the
horrors she had already faced, it was easy to picture the scene Amy had just
painted. She wanted to get away from them, to run away and forget.

"I don’t think I want to here anymore," she said softly, raising her eyes to
look at the blonde witch. "Can... can we just go home now?"

"I don’t know how to send you there," Amy told her apologetically.

"No. I mean, where Forrest and I supposedly live." Cordelia sat up
straighter, determined to put her best face forward. While what had
happened to Buffy was terrible, there was no way they could fix it unless
they got back home, and in order to do that, they needed to get a decent
rest before they started researching tomorrow. "I don’t think it would look
good if we stayed here tonight." She turned to the others. "We have kids
here, and we need to do our best to pull ourselves together and act like
their parents. We can research tomorrow, get back to our world as soon as
possible, then try to fix things and save Buffy once we get there, okay?"

The other three exchanged looks, knowing Cordelia was right. They couldn’t
let the kids know what was going on, and they had to end this as soon as
possible. With a quick nod, Forrest stood up and helped Cordelia to her
feet. Amy went to the other room to get the sleeping Davis and take down
the sound barrier she had put up in the kitchen, and Willow stood up and
gave Cordelia a hug.

"Take care of yourself," she told her friend.

"Same to you," Cordelia replied as they broke apart. She took Davis from
Amy, still astonished that this adorable little boy was actually her future
son. She looked back at Willow and Graham as she headed for the door. "See
you tomorrow."

As the others left, Willow and Graham turned to each other, clueless as to
what to do next.

Part Ten

February 2000

"Are you sure they’re coming?" Riley asked as he looked at the clock on the
wall.

"Angel said he’d be here as quickly as possible. That means he’ll be here,"
Buffy said confidently, although she herself wasn’t completely sure. What
if he had decided not to come simply in order to avoid her? The petite
blonde shook that thought off, knowing the vampire wasn’t that petty. There
was no way he’d let the failure of their relationship keep him from helping
find Willow and Cordelia. Angel had a difficult time making friends, and he
wouldn’t just sit back and wait when he was in danger of losing two of them.
"He’ll be here," the Slayer repeated in an even firmer voice.

Xander nodded his agreement of the statement. "Deadboy will be here. He
always shows, whether you want him to or not."

"Deadboy?" Riley repeated blankly. He turned just in time to see Buffy
gesturing frantically at Xander behind his back. "Did I miss something
here?" the young man asked his girlfriend.

"Um, well..." Buffy hedged, shooting a desperate look at Giles. She so did
not want to broach this subject right now. She preferred to have time to
prepare Riley for the shock. Like a decade.

"You mean he doesn’t know? Good Lord, Slayer, you sure are the secretive
one," Spike said. "I mean, first, it took you two years to even tell your
mum you were the Slayer, and now you haven’t even told the commando boy
about Peaches. That’s just not right."

"Oh, great," Buffy moaned, throwing her hands in the air. "Now I’m getting
lectured by my mortal enemy."

"Well, it’s true," the British vampire informed her.

"Is anyone going to explain things to me?" Riley exclaimed, standing up in
order to get the attention of the others.

"Angel’s a vampire," Anya told him bluntly. "He’s rather large and glowery.
I’m not sure if I like him."

"You’ve met him once," Buffy said darkly. "How would you know if you like
him or not?"

"You just love the vampires, don’t you, Buffy?" Riley said sarcastically.

"You have no idea, mate," Spike muttered softly, trying not to laugh. Riley
didn’t hear him.

"You’re the Vampire Slayer. Doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to actually
kill the vampires, instead of just keeping them as pets?"

"Hey, now!" Spike cried, rising to his feet. "I am nobody’s pet!
Especially not the Slayer’s! Do you understand me?"

"She feeds you and gives you a place to live, doesn’t she? Sounds like a
pet to me."

Spike narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to Riley so that they were nose
to nose. Well, nearly so. Spike was a bit shorter. Even though he was
actually larger than the vampire, Riley stepped back from the intimidating
glare. Spike took a step closer, and Riley found himself backed up to the
couch.

"I am nobody’s pet," the vampire repeated. "I live on my own, I get my own
blood, and I go out and kick some ass whenever I damn well please. Remember
that," he growled as he went back to his chair.

"Well, that was chock full of testosterone," Anya commented.

"And it really didn’t solve a thing," Xander said quietly before turning his
attention to Riley. "Angel is a vampire; that’s true. But he’s not
dangerous. And before you ask, no, he’s not fixed like Spike is. He has a
soul. For petty reasons I’d rather keep to myself, I’ve never really liked
the guy, but he has saved my life several times. He’s saved Willow, he’s
saved Giles, he’s even saved Buffy. And that’s just to name a few."

"Explain to me the soul thing."

"Complicated story," Buffy told him. "But, he got a soul around the turn of
the century, he lost it, then Willow gave it back to him."

"Complicated? Well, I take it that was the Cliffs Notes version," Riley
commented.

"Something like that."

"Anyway," Xander spoke up, "the point is, Angel can be trusted. He’ll do
anything to save our friends. I can’t say the same about Wesley, though."

"Who’s he?"

"A former Watcher," Buffy told him. "He’s completely human."

"Also a sissy man," Xander added.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"How much farther?" Angel asked as he looked at the scenery passing by at
what seemed to be an obscenely slow rate. He never should have let Wesley
drive. The man drove like somebody’s grandmother.

"You sound like a child," the former Watcher told him. "And a rather old
one, at that. We’ll get there when we get there. Now be quiet and let me
drive."

"Well, I’m sorry if I’m in a hurry to go help find the others," the vampire
said sarcastically. "I guess it’s a flaw I have."

Wesley didn’t comment, and the two continued their trip in silence.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Buffy pushed her hair out of her face and groaned. "This is taking way too
long. Shouldn’t we be out there already?"

Giles looked up from the cup of tea he was drinking. "I’d prefer it if
you’d stay until the others got here. Then I’ll send you out in teams."

"You just know that if we went out now, Angel would simply head out as soon
as he got here, and you’d be stuck with Wesley. You just don’t want that to
happen," Xander accused.

"Quite right."

"It’ll be less dangerous for Angel and Spike to be out there if we go in
groups, won’t it?" Buffy asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Riley said, rousing himself from the magazine he’d been
reading for the last half hour. After learning about Angel, he had decided
he was better off finding out anything else about Buffy and her friends and
had studiously avoided conversation. Until now.

"Well, won’t the Initiative be out?"

"Probably."

"Um, Hostile Seventeen and a previously unseen Hostile running around town?
Your buddies with big guns trying to shoot them? Any of this ringing a
bell, or should I go on?"

"Damn, you’re right. Angel and Spike will have to be out with people.
It’ll lessen the chances that they’ll get attacked."

"Oh, well, that’s a pleasant thought," the bleached blonde vampire said in
an annoyed voice. "I’m trying to do something good, and I’m still in danger
from your little friends. Maybe they should ask questions before they nail
a demon. Not all of us are bad, you know."

"If they stopped to ask questions, they’d all be dead by now," Riley replied
tightly.

"Would that be so bad?"

"Spike," the Slayer said warningly.

"What? I’m just making conversation," the vampire said, feigning innocence.
After a moment, he shrugged. "Oh, bugger it," he said as he stood. "I
can’t take this anymore. I’ve got to go out and kill something. I’ll be
back later," he told them as he grabbed his duster and opened the door,
running straight into the people standing on the doorstep. A slow smile
crossed the vampire’s face as he took in the appearance of the new arrivals.

"Well, hello, Daddy."

Part Eleven

March 2010

Graham entered the bedroom quietly, his eyes trained on Willow. She was
sitting in front of a mirror, brushing out her hair. She’d finally taken it
down from her French twist, and he could now see just how beautiful her hair
was. He wanted to brush it for her, but he wasn’t sure how she’d react to
that, so he held himself back.

Willow ran the brush through her hair, a bit surprised by its length. She’d
left it up while she had taken her bath, and was just now seeing it for the
first time. It was nearly as long as it had been her sophomore year of high
school. Willow glanced up from her work and saw Graham watching her.
Setting the brush down on the vanity, she turned to him and smiled. "Hey,"
she said in a voice just slightly above a whisper. "Are the girls in bed?"

"Fast asleep," he told her with a smile. "Kylia’s a little chatterbox,
though."

"If she’s anything like me, the chattering will turn into rambling around
the sixth grade. What about Bailey?"

"She’s a quiet little thing," he said as he sat on the edge of the bed
facing her. "Of course, her big sister doesn’t give her much of a chance to
talk." Graham looked down at his hands, then back at his future wife.
"Apparently, we read to them every night. Tomorrow night’s supposed to be
your turn. That is, if we’re still here."

Willow nodded as she began to remove her jewelry. She had forgotten to
remove her earrings and necklace before her bath. "What are we reading to
them?" she asked as she fought with the clasp to her necklace.

Graham moved towards her and swept her silky hair to one side so he could
get a better look at her neck. He carefully unclasped the necklace, then
handed it to her. "The Wizard of Oz. We’re right to the part where they
meet the Cowardly Lion. Kylia told me that they like to pretend you’re
Glenda, the Good Witch."

Willow smiled up at him. "Well, I guess that’s better than the Wicked Witch
of the West."

"Or the East. She’s the one that got crushed by Dorothy’s house, you know."

"True. It’s good to know that my children don’t want me dead." Sighing,
Willow stood up and headed for the bed. She’d already changed into one of
her future self’s nightgowns, and she was exhausted.

Graham went to the dresser, opening random drawers until he managed to find
one that carried a pair of pajama pants. Taking them to the adjoining
bathroom, he showered quickly, then pulled the pants on. As he reentered
the now darkened bedroom, he paused near the foot of the bed.

"Do you want me to sleep in one of the guest rooms?" he asked, feeling a bit
foolish.

Willow shook her head. She’d thought about it, and she had realized how
ridiculous that would be. They were both adults, and she hoped they were
capable of controlling themselves. Besides, what if one of the kids came
looking for them in the middle of the night? How would they explain the
fact that Mommy and Daddy were sleeping in separate rooms? "You should stay
in here," the redhead told Graham. "It would look better to the kids, and
anyway, I trust you."

Graham smiled at her before sliding into bed beside her. He turned on his
side to face her, and she did the same.

"How are you doing?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you okay? We’ve been through a lot today. I mean, yesterday we were
college students; today we’re parents."

"And I‘m a college professor," Willow said with a laugh.

After a moment her expression sobered, and Graham was surprised to see tears
begin to roll down her face. With a quiet curse, he pulled the redhead into
his arms, and she buried her face against his chest. He could feel her hot
tears on his bare skin. Not knowing what to do, he simply held her, gently
stroking her hair and whispering softly to her.

"It’s okay, sweetie. Everything’s going to be all right."

With a hiccupy sob, Willow pulled away slightly so that she could see
Graham’s face. Graham lifted one of his hands to her face and wiped away
the girl’s tears. "Better now?" he asked her softly.

She nodded. "Yeah. I’m sorry about that."

"Don’t be. It’s been a hell of a day; I think you’re entitled to a good cry
or two."

"Thanks. It’s just..." she trailed off, at a bit of a loss. Taking a deep
breath, she began again, trying to explain. "I just miss Buffy. In our
world, she’s always the one I go to. She almost always knows what to do,
and if she doesn’t, Giles usually does. And it’s just really hard to deal
with the fact that she isn’t here. I don’t want her to die, Graham. She’s
my best friend, and I don’t know what I’d do without her."

Once again, Graham pulled Willow to him, wishing he could take away her
pain. She may look like a woman in her late twenties, but she was still a
nineteen year old inside that body, and it tore him up to see her so sad.
"We’re going to fix it," he told her. "We’re going to get back to our world
where we belong, and we’re all going to work together. And when the time
comes, we’re going to take care of Buffy. We will not let her die, okay?"

Willow nodded against his chest, taking comfort in his words, as well as the
strength of his arms. She felt safe and loved as she lay in his embrace.
She couldn’t believe how comfortable she felt around him. It was strange.
Just yesterday, this man had been a stranger to her. He was the kind of guy
she would have never given a second thought to, immediately writing him off
as being out of her league. Now he was her anchor in a confusing and
frightening future.

Graham tightened his grip as Willow snuggled even closer. Good Lord, she
felt wonderful in his arms. She felt right. It was difficult to believe
that less than twenty-four hours before, they had been strangers. He
realized that, though they had talked quite a bit today, there was still a
lot to learn about each other. And he couldn’t wait to learn more.

With thoughts of each other weighing on their minds, Willow and Graham
surrendered to their exhaustion and went to sleep.

Part Twelve

February 2000

Riley stood and looked towards the door, eager to see the new arrivals. He
knew one of them had to be Angel, and he had to admit he was intrigued by
the prospect of a vampire with a soul. It wasn’t exactly a possibility he’d
ever considered before. However, the whole "Daddy" issue kind of
overshadowed everything else in his mind.

"Daddy?" he repeated as two men entered the room. The taller man, who was
extremely pale and had to be Angel, winced at the word. He looked at Riley
and shrugged.

"Just one of the many things I’ve come to regret in my life," he told the
young man quietly.

"Oh, well, is that any way to greet your favorite childe?" Spike asked
sarcastically. He just loved getting a rise out of his sire, and he knew
exactly how to do it.

Riley nodded slowly in understanding. "You made him."

Angel nodded regretfully at the young man that he recognized as Buffy’s
friend from Thanksgiving. He knew from Giles that this young man knew about
vampires, and his comment made Angel certain that Riley knew at least part
of his story. The vampire just wondered how much. Given the nervous look
in Buffy’s eyes, he knew it wasn’t everything. "I’m his sire," he
confirmed, looking over at Spike.

"My condolences," Riley offered, causing Angel to smile one of his rare
smiles.

"Thank you."

"Oh, look, Slayer. They’re friends. And here you were, worried they would
hate each other because of-"

"Shut up, Spike," Xander interrupted harshly as Buffy paled.

"Because of what?" Riley asked quietly, searching the room. No one would
meet his eyes. "What aren’t you telling me?"

"Oh, Buffy and Angel had a tragic love affair," Anya finally said with a
sigh. "It’s really a rather long and boring story. Trust me, you don’t
want to hear about it."

"You dated a vampire?" he asked in shock, turning to look at his girlfriend.

"She didn’t just date him; she shagged him. How do you think Peaches lost
his soul that one time?" Spike said with the air of one who was trying not
to jump for joy. He just loved trying to cause trouble for the Slayer and
her friends. Well, except for Willow. He actually liked her, and he still
wanted to chase down the wolf and yank out his intestines for what he had
done to her. Spike often wondered if he would be able to do something like
that during a full moon. Oz was, after all, a beast during those times, and
the implant still allowed him to kill demons and such. Anyway, he figured
it would be worth a try if the wolf ever came back.

"You had sex with him?" Riley asked, stunned.

"Oh, what the hell does it matter?" Buffy cried. "It’s not like you didn’t
know I’ve slept with other people before! It’s not like you haven’t had
other partners at some point in your life! For God’s sakes, it was one time
more than two years ago! I don’t see why it matters now."

Riley shrugged, a rather jerky movement, before looking over at Angel. The
vampire was staring daggers at Spike and looked about to rip a new hole in
the other vampire.

"You couldn’t leave it alone, could you?" he growled, taking a step towards
his childe. "You’re not happy, so you had to make sure no one else is,
either."

"Oh, please," Spike replied, just as harshly. "Don’t tell me you don’t want
to rip the boy in two for dating your precious Slayer."

Angel growled once more, hating the fact that Spike was fairly close to the
truth. Seeing Buffy with Riley hurt, but he was also glad that the Slayer
had found a way to move on. He just hoped the guy wasn’t a jerk. Then he
really would kill him. "I want Buffy to be happy," he ground out. "If
Riley makes her happy, so be it. But that isn’t the issue right now. The
issue is that Willow and Cordelia are missing."

"So are Forrest and Graham," Xander put in.

"Who?" the vampire asked, a confused look on his face.

Riley, who was still reeling over the revelations about his girlfriend and
Angel, but who knew that they would have to put off discussing it until
after the others were found, answered the other man. "They’re my best
friends. They’re good guys, and if they’re being kept all together, they’ll
take care of Willow and Cordelia."

"Why would someone take your friends, as well as Willow and Cordelia?"
Wesley asked, speaking for the first time. The others jumped slightly; they
had completely forgotten that the other man was there.

"It was Ethan Rayne," Giles answered. "We now know he’s been loose in
Sunnydale for at least a week, and he does have reason to have a grudge
against Riley, just as much as he does the rest of us."

"So he took them to get at all of us," Angel reasoned.

"Or to distract us," Buffy added. "Which is why we have to find him. We
need to figure up what he’s up to and why."

"I think the why is simply that he enjoys causing trouble," Giles said
quietly. "He thrives on it. All we really need to do is find him, stop
whatever it is that he’s doing, and get the others back."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Riley said. "And now that everyone’s here,
let’s split up and go find this guy."

"I’m not working with Spike," Buffy informed them. "I might accidentally
stake him."

"Very well. I was thinking of sending him with Wesley anyway."

"What?" the former Watcher squawked, shocked by that revelation. Giles
simply smiled at him.

"And I was thinking that Buffy and Anya should head off together..."

"Why can’t I be with Xander?" the former demon complained.

"Because the two of you will end up shagging instead of searching," Spike
answered.

Anya pouted momentarily, but Buffy was actually a bit relieved by the
assignment. It meant she wouldn’t have to explain everything about Angel to
Riley just yet, and it also kept her away from Angel. She smiled her
approval at her mentor, who nodded in response before continuing.

"I thought Riley could head out with me," he said, causing Buffy to breath
another sigh of relief. "And Angel will be with Xander."

"Oh, God, no," Xander muttered, causing Angel to level a glare at him.

"Do you want to find Willow or not?" he asked, knowing he was hitting on
Xander’s weakness. The only redeeming quality Angel had ever been able to
find for the young man had been the fact that he obviously cared very deeply
for both Willow and Buffy.

"Sorry," Xander replied as he stood. "Let’s get out there and get us a bad
guy."

The others nodded in response and headed out.

"Oh, and Peaches?" Spike spoke up as he headed off with Wesley, already
wondering if there was any possible way that he could accidentally allow the
man to become demon food. "Watch out for the army boys with the big guns."

Angel looked at Xander, who shrugged in response. "I’ll tell you all about
it while we’re looking for Ethan."

"I’m not sure I want to know."

Part Thirteen

March 2010

Cordelia and Forrest stood inside their home looking around in awe.

"Damn, we did good for ourselves," Forrest said softly, causing Cordelia to
smile. She spun around in a slow circle, tears coming to her eyes.

"I can’t believe we live here," she whispered quietly. "I can’t believe we
had this place built. I can’t believe you let me have it built."

"What do you mean?" Forrest asked curiously. He had been too enthralled
with the place to notice Cordelia’s initial reaction to it.

His wife ran her hand lovingly over the banister. "I used to live in a
place exactly like this," she told him. "When I was growing up. Then...
boom. Everything came tumbling down in the middle of senior year. My dad
was arrested for tax evasion, and we lost everything."

"And now you have it back," Forrest said with a gentle smile.

Cordelia turned to look at the man who had been a stranger only the day
before. It was odd to think that here, now, he was her husband. The man he
was, or more accurately, the man he would become, had helped her to get this
place built. He had given her back her home. She let her gaze stray to the
child in Forrest’s arms. Davis. Her son.

"I don’t just have it back; I think I have it better this time around."

Forrest followed Cordy’s gaze, looking down at his son. He still couldn’t
believe that the child was really his. Well, his future self’s, anyway. He
looked back at Cordelia and smiled.

"I almost wish we didn’t have to go back. I kind of like it here."

"Me, too," Cordelia agreed. "But... Buffy."

"Yeah. We have to save her. I mean, we’re from ten years before this -
Buffy and Riley have known each other maybe six months, dated for maybe two,
and he’s already in love with her. We have to make sure he doesn’t lose
her."

"We have to make sure we don’t lose her," Cordelia corrected. "I mean, I
really don’t think any of us could handle it. Willow and Xander are her
best friends; I’m sure they would fall apart. And Buffy’s mom? Buffy’s all
she has... and then there’s Giles. She’s like a daughter to him. The group
I was with in high school... we called ourselves the Scooby Gang, or the
Slayerettes, and we were like a family. That’s what losing Buffy would be
like. Losing a sister, or a daughter... whatever."

"Then we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen," Forrest told her.
He started to step toward her, then stopped and looked down at the bundle in
his arms. "I’d really like to hold you right now, but I don’t think I can
do that without waking Davis."

Cordelia looked at their child. Amy had told them that he had completely
worn himself out, and he would probably sleep through the night even though
he had gone to sleep a couple hours earlier than normal. Cordy hoped Amy
was right. She had very little experience with children, and she was
terrified that Davis would know something wasn’t quite right with his
parents went he woke.

"We really should put him in his own bed," Cordelia told her husband.

Forrest looked around him. The house was pretty big, and he had no idea
where to start looking for a two year old’s bedroom. "Where?" he asked.

The brunette thought for a moment, then smiled. "Well, if this place really
does have the same floor plan as the house I grew up in... When I was
little, I always wanted a younger brother or sister. Unfortunately, my
parents were already sleeping in separate bedrooms at the time, which really
cut down on the chances of that happening. Of course, I didn’t know it
then. But, anyway, I had a room picked out... just in case it ever did
happen, and I got a sibling. I thought it would make a perfect room for a
baby or a toddler."

"Show me," Forrest told her, smiling at her. He sincerely hoped that the
room Cordelia was thinking of was Davis’s room. He hoped his future self
was the kind of man that would help his wife’s dreams - even childhood
dreams - come true.

Returning Forrest’s smile, Cordelia led him up the winding staircase. Once
upstairs, she led him past the master bedroom - their bedroom - to a corner
room two doors down. The pretty brunette held her breath as she opened the
door, then broke into a wide smile.

It was Davis’s room.

Forrest followed her in, smiling himself. The room was bright and airy, and
it had several windows. A farm scene - complete with horses, dogs, and cats
- was painted on one of the walls, and Forrest stepped closer to it,
studying the artistry. It looked almost real. He turned his head to the
side, trying to read the artist’s signature.

"Amy mentioned a guy named Angel, didn’t she?" he asked.

"Yeah. You’ll probably meet him tomorrow. Back in our time, he’s my boss.
Why?"

"He did this mural."

"Wow." Cordelia glanced at the window. The sun was sure to shine through
it during the day, landing directly on the mural. "He must have done it at
night," she murmured. "Either that, or gotten heavy curtains."

Forrest nodded. Willow and Cordy had tried to explain about Angel earlier,
but he was still a little leery about the whole vampire with a soul thing.
"Must have," he said quietly, not wanting to get into it. He watched as
Cordelia yawned. "I guess Davis isn’t the only one who’s tired," he said
softly.

Cordelia smiled slightly and nodded. "Too much excitement today, I guess.
Plus, you know, now I’m pregnant."

"Yeah." Forrest paused, suddenly uncomfortable. "So, um, do you want me to
sleep in a guest room or something?" he asked after a moment.

Cordelia looked a bit surprised by the suggestion. She shook her head.
"No, actually, I don’t. I know it sounds weird, but I’d feel safer if you
were with me. I mean, I know nothing bad’s going to happen if I’m alone,
but... everything’s just so different here."

"And I’m from your world. So even though I’m not really familiar..."

"You still seem familiar."

"Yeah. I see where you’re coming from." He held out his hand to the
brunette. "Shall we?"

Cordelia nodded, then took his hand, letting him lead her from the room.

Part Fourteen

February 2000

Spike stalked down the street, looking far more dangerous than he actually
was. The vampire was ignoring his partner, and he was currently walking
several paces in front of Wesley.

"I thought we were supposed to be working together," the former Watcher
huffed as he quickened his pace, trying to catch up to the British vampire.

"Listen, mate," Spike snarled as he turned to the other man and shoved him
up against the wall. He wrapped his hand around the man’s throat, squeezing
just enough to let him know it was there, but not enough to cause any actual
pain. Spike didn’t think it would look good if he collapsed with an instant
migraine while threatening someone. "The only reason I haven’t made you a
meal yet is because of this bloody implant. I don’t like you, and I sure as
hell don’t want to work with you! Do you understand me?"

"But you want to get Willow back. Which means we have to work together and
find this Ethan fellow," Wesley reminded him quietly. Spike glared at him
for a moment, then released him and stepped back with a sigh, looking at the
ground. "Why do you want to get her back?" the younger man asked just as
quietly, and Spike’s head shot up. Disbelief was on the vampire’s face, as
well an emotion Wesley knew better than to name aloud.

"Don’t you want to get her back?" Spike asked.

"Of course I do. I want to get Cordelia back as well. And Forrest and
Graham. I want to save them all, but you only care about Willow."

"What’s your point?" Spike growled menacingly.

Wesley shrugged, completely unperturbed. He knew the vampire couldn’t harm
him, and he fully intended to keep his wits about him. Even if Spike was
kind of creepy. "No point, really. Just an observation."

"Well, keep your bloody observations to yourself," Spike instructed before
turning and continuing on. Wesley watched the vampire walk away, then began
to follow him, a smile on his face.

It seemed Spike had a crush.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"I don’t see why I can’t be searching with Xander," Anya grumbled as she and
Buffy made their way down the street.

"Because you’d probably end up dragging him into an alley to do naughty
things to him that I don’t even want to think about," the Slayer replied
calmly, not even glancing at the girl beside her. She was completely
focused on finding her quarry, and she barely noticed what Anya was saying.
Buffy had discovered that she no longer cared that Ethan Rayne was a human
being. Once they had gotten their friends back, she fully intended to beat
him to a bloody pulp. She wondered if the Initiative would consent to do
experiments on him if they claimed he was a Chaos Demon.

Anya, on the other hand, was completely focused on Xander. "Ooh. Naughty
things in an alley. We haven’t tried that yet. Xander really isn’t into
exhibitionism."

"Maybe that’s because having sex in public places is pretty much illegal,"
Buffy commented wryly as the two left the street and entered the woods.

"I just don’t understand human laws," Anya replied as she followed the
Slayer.

"Yeah, well, quite frankly, I’m grateful for them."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Giles tried not to growl at the young man beside him. For the past twenty
minutes, Riley had pestered him with questions about Angel, trying to learn
more about the vampire’s relationship with the Slayer. Finally, the former
Watcher had reached the end of his rope.

"Listen to me, Riley," he ground out, glaring at the boy. "I know what you
learned tonight was a shock, but you have to get over it."

"She dated a vampire, and she didn’t even tell me!" Riley protested.

"Have you told her about all of your ex-girlfriends?" Giles tossed back.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with it! Angel is Buffy’s past-"

"He’s a vampire!"

"Yes, well, I’ve known that for the better part of four years, but thank you
for reminding me of it. The point I’m trying to make is this: you haven’t
given her all the gory details of your past relationships, so why should she
be required to tell you of hers?"

"All of my girlfriends have been human!"

Giles snorted. "Don’t be so certain of that. You could have dated a
werewolf, or a shapeshifter of another sort... or who knows what. You could
have dated a demon of some sort; not all of them are big and green and
slimy. Some look quite human. Anya used to be a demon, up until her power
center was destroyed. Willow was offered the chance to be a demon, but she
turned it down. The point is, you never know. And you have no right to
hold Buffy’s past against her unless she is afforded the opportunity to do
the same to you." Giles stopped and turned, pinning Riley with a glare.
"You have a choice. Either you can forgive whatever you’re currently
holding against her, or you end your relationship with her. But I suggest
you choose wisely. I’ve seen that girl get hurt far too many times in the
past. If you leave her, it had better be for good, because I will not allow
you to hurt her twice. I would kill you first." With that, Giles turned
and went on his way.

Riley had no choice but to follow.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Why did he have to stick us together? Giles knows we hate each other,"
Xander lamented as he walked beside the vampire.

"Probably to keep Riley as far away from me as possible," Angel replied.

"Couldn’t you have been with Giles instead?"

"And leave you to deal with whatever questions Riley might have about me?
Yeah, right. That’ll happen."

"I could have told him about all the times you’ve tried to kill us," Xander
said, then caught the look on the vampire’s face. "Sorry. I shouldn’t have
said. I’m just worried about Willow. It makes me more obnoxious than
usual."

Angel shrugged. "I know you’re worried. The fact that you’re friends with
Willow has always been one of your few redeeming qualities. She wouldn’t
have stuck by you for so long if there wasn’t something good about you. If
it weren’t for her, I probably would have killed you by now."

"Oh, God."

"Xander, I was just kidding."

"No, not that. Although I knew there were times when you wanted to eat me."

"Actually, I probably would have just broken your neck."

"How reassuring. And isn’t that Ethan?" he asked pointing. Angel followed
Xander’s line of sight and saw the man they were looking for.

"Well, I’ll be damned."

"I’m not going to comment on that."

Part Fifteen

March 2010

Graham woke up slowly, and he quickly discovered that he had no desire to
actually move. He was far too comfortable for that. Sometime during the
night, the girls had come into the room - and into the bed - and Kylia and
Bailey were now a tangles of arms, legs, and stuffed animals that were lying
in a heap at his side. On his other side, Willow was curled up against him,
her arms wrapped around his waist. Her long, red hair fanned out over his
bare chest. Graham began to idly play with a few strands of Willow’s hair
as he studied his future wife.

His wife.

The knowledge that here, in this world, in this time, he was married still
astonished him. It also made Graham extremely happy, a feeling that wasn’t
altogether expected. However, Graham had come to consider Willow to be an
amazing woman, and he had discovered that he loved the thought of having a
family with the redhead. He almost regretted the fact that he had to go
back to the year two thousand. If it wasn’t for the fact that he truly
wanted to save Buffy, and he honestly believed she could be saved, he would
have considered not trying to go back. Here, he was in his early thirties -
wow, that was a crazy and somewhat frightening thought - and more than ready
to have a wife and family. However, back in his own time, he was barely
twenty-two and he was nowhere near ready for that kind of leap. He was
still in college, and his life wasn’t exactly what could be considered
stable. Of course, in a few years...

Dear Lord, what was he thinking? Was he honestly lying in bed contemplating
spending the rest of his life with a woman he had really only known for a
day? With a shock, Graham realized that was exactly what he seemed to be
doing. The young man shook his head in disbelief, stunned by the direction
of his own thoughts. Graham had never been one to jump into a decision; he
preferred to take the time to sit and contemplate his actions. He sighed as
he once again looked at the beautiful redhead curled up against him. He had
always thought that love at love at first sight was a load of crap, but
now...

"You’re looking at Mommy in that way again."

Graham turned his head to find Kylia gazing steadily at him as she twist a
lock of her brown hair around her finger. "In what way?" Graham asked his
daughter, genuinely curious.

"That way you do when you think me and Bailey aren’t watching. Uncle Riley
says it means you love Mommy." Before Graham could even process that
statement, much less respond to it, Kylia continued. "Do you think Uncle
Riley used to look at Aunt Buffy like that when she was alive? Caitlin says
she can’t remember."

Graham thought about the question for a moment before answering. Because of
the context of the child’s inquiry, he was pretty certain that Caitlin was
Buffy and Riley’s daughter, and it saddened him to think that the little
girl probably had very few, if any, memories of her mother. "Yes, honey,
Uncle Riley did look at Aunt Buffy that way," he assured his daughter,
certain he was right. He knew how Riley looked at Buffy back in his own
time, and he couldn’t imagine Riley’s feelings for Buffy ever fading. He
silently promised himself that he would get back to his own world and make
sure that Buffy would be around for Riley and Caitlin in the future that
they were going to create.

"What about you, Mommy? Do you remember Uncle Riley looking at Aunt Buffy
the same way Daddy looks at you?"

Graham turned his head, surprised to discover that Willow was awake and
gazing at him steadily. He’d been so busy talking to Kylia that he hadn’t
even noticed when Willow had shifted positions.

"What way?" Willow asked, making it clear to Graham that she’d missed a
large part of the conversation.

"Like he loves you," Kylia replied in a tone that meant the answer should
have been obvious.

Willow placed her hands on Graham’s chest and pushed herself into a sitting
position. She looked down at her husband with curious eyes. "When did
Daddy look at me that way?" she asked.

"All the time. Everyone’s seen it. And he was doing it just a minute ago."

"Oh he was, was he?" Willow questioned softly, her eyes locked on Graham’s
face. A light blush stained her cheeks as she saw that there was no denial
of Kylia’s statement in his eyes.

"Uh-huh," her daughter replied, nodding her head vigorously. Her hair
bounced on her shoulders, and the little girl smiled as she watched her
parents. "But what about Uncle Riley? Did he look at Aunt Buffy that way,
too?" she asked as she bounced on the bed. Her movements caused Bailey to
wake up, and the younger child pulled her stuffed bear closer to her chest
and watched her family with wide eyes.

Willow smiled at her older daughter, remembering the time when Riley had
come to her dorm room and asked for advice on how to get Buffy to like him.
And now... well, back in their own time, Riley always looked at Buffy as if
he was fascinated by her and completely in love with her. "Of course he
looked at Aunt Buffy that way. He always did," she told Kylia as she
reached out and brushed a lock of hair from the girl’s face. Glancing
beyond her child, she caught a glimpse the clock, surprised to discover it
was nearly ten in the morning. "Oh, we have to get ready," she told the
others.

"Why?" Bailey asked petulantly, her first words of the day.

"Because Uncle Riley and Aunt Amy and a whole bunch of others are coming
over," Willow replied as she began to get off the bed.

"Aren’t you going to kiss Daddy good morning before you go? You always do,"
Kylia said before Willow could leave. The redheaded woman turned to face
Graham. He smiled as he met her surprised eyes.

"Yeah. Aren’t you going to kiss me?" he asked.

Willow leaned in, her eyes closing as she gently brushed her lips against
Graham’s. She’d meant for it to be nothing more than that, but Graham’s
hand came up behind her and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

Then the phone rang.

Willow stepped away, her eyes never leaving Graham’s as she reached for the
phone. She was vaguely aware of the girls cheering for the kiss their
parents had just shared, but she was more concerned with keeping her
breathing even. She didn’t want Graham to think she had been too affected
by his kiss. Without breaking eye contact with the man before her, she
placed the receiver against her ear.

"Hello?"

Willow listened to the person on the other end, adding an occasional
‘mmm-hmmm’ or ‘okay’ to the conversation. When the conversation was over,
she returned the phone to its cradle.

"Who was it?" Graham asked.

"Amy. She and the others will be over in about an hour."

Graham looked at Willow’s state of undress, then took his own. "Then I
guess we’d better get ready." He met Willow’s eyes again, making sure she
understood what he meant when he spoke again. "We’ll talk about this
later."

"Yeah. Later," Willow replied as she turned to leave the room, her heart
pounding because of the look in Graham’s eyes.

Part Sixteen

February 2000

"So, uh, Deadboy... what do we do now?" Xander asked.

"Well, first we stop calling me that," the vampire replied acerbically.

"Okay. Got it. No more taunting the big, strong guy who just happens to be
a member of the walking dead."

"Giles hates me, doesn’t he?" Angel muttered quietly before turning his
attention back to the building Ethan Rayne had just entered. At least, he
was pretty damn sure it was Ethan Rayne. Either that, or it was the guy’s
doppleganger, which, considering that this was the Hellmouth, was entirely
possible... and wow, he needed to focus. "We’ve got to get Ethan."

"So we just charge in there and grab the guy? Sounds good. Can we kill
him, too? You could get a quick meal, and I swear I wouldn’t tell anyone
you ate Ethan. It would be our little secret."

"Maybe you should go get the others while I stay here and watch Ethan,"
Angel suggested.

"And leave you all alone to get captured by the Initiative? No way. If
that happens, I want to be here to see it," Xander informed the vampire.

Angel raised his hands to his temples. He was pretty damn sure he was
beginning to get a headache. "I really think you should go far, far away
from here. Perhaps Siberia. Yeah, that would be good."

"Can’t leave you, Deadboy. Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia would all kill me if
something happened to you when I was gone."

"Is the Initiative really that bad?"

Xander nodded. "I think they are, even though Buffy doesn’t. She thinks
Walsh is wonderful and, well, then there’s Riley..."

"Her new boyfriend," Angel supplied with a grimace.

"Yeah. He’s in the group. But that doesn’t change the fact that they
basically rendered Spike helpless against humans. Not that I mind that;
Spike kind of hates me and all my friends and wants us dead, so it’s nice to
know he can’t follow through on that. But the point is, they caught Spike,
and he’s still out here running around. Why didn’t they just stake him?
There’s no reason to let him live-"

"Unless they had a use for him," Angel finished with a nod. "They probably
experiment on the creatures they catch."

"Yeah, but why?"

"I guess we’ll have to figure that one out later. Right now we have to
catch Ethan."

"I still say you should kill him," Xander said calmly without a hint of
sarcasm. He didn’t know what he would do if the vampire agreed to the idea,
but he was sick and tired of Ethan Rayne harming his friends.

Angel shrugged. Killing Ethan Rayne wasn’t exactly a bad idea, and they
vampire couldn’t even work up any guilt over thinking that the world would
be a much better place if Ethan was to die of a sudden and extreme loss of
blood. However, he knew he couldn’t do it. "I really don’t think that
would help us locate the others. Ethan’s the only one who knows were Willow
and Cordelia are, and I don’t think he’s of much use to us dead. Plus, he’d
probably taste really bad." Angel crept forward through the trees, heading
for the building Ethan had entered. Both vampire and teenager tensed when a
branch cracked beneath their feet.

"Nice going, Mr. Stealthy," Xander said in a voice slightly above a whisper.
Angel elbowed him to get him to be quiet, causing the young man to groan.

After a moment, the two decided that Ethan hadn’t heard them (or had decided
that they were some sort of harmless animal) and continued on their way.
Sighing, Angel started the conversation again, giving voice to his concerns.

"What do we really know about this Initiative group? Can Riley be trusted?
And what about Walsh?"

Xander shrugged at the vampire’s question, although he had some of the same
concerns himself. "Riley seems okay, although he sucks at undercover work.
He’s sort of an Anti-Stealth guy. I’ve never met Walsh."

"And Forrest and Graham? Are they in this group, too?"

"As far as I know," Xander replied with a nod. After a moment, he turned to
face the vampire. "You’re worried about Wills and Cordy being with those
guys, aren’t you?"

Angel met Xander’s eyes for a beat, then gave a curt nod. "What do we
really know about those two? Besides the fact that they’re Riley’s
friends," he added when Xander opened his mouth. The teen thought for a few
seconds, then shrugged.

"Never met them before in my life," he admitted. The comment caused Angel’s
frown to deepen, and the vampire hastily continued on his way. Xander had
to scramble to keep up. The two men stopped once they reached the building,
and Angel surreptitiously looked in the window while Xander made sure they
weren’t spotted.

"He’s alone," Angel informed the young man as he backed away from the
window.

"They’re not in there? None of them?"

Angel shook his head, then looked again. "He’s not keeping them there,
that’s for sure. The building’s not very big, and I should be able to feel
them if they’re here."

"Feel them? That’s some strange and frightening vampire ability that I
don’t want to know about, isn’t it?"

Angel nodded vaguely, then gestured to the window. "You know how you all
decided that Ethan took the others as a combination of revenge and an effort
to distract you? I think you were right. He has some pretty heavy duty
magick supplies in there."

"Then I guess we better get him."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Riley and Giles walked in complete silence, both lost in their own thoughts.
Giles was going back and forth between worrying that he had been too hard
on Riley when he had yelled at him earlier and wanting to yell at him some
more. He also wondered what Buffy’s reaction to the turn of events would
be. He knew that the Slayer realized he thought of her as a daughter, but
she probably wouldn’t take too kindly to him meddling in her love life. The
former Watcher sighed, forcing his thoughts to other things.

Cordelia and Willow. Missing for at least eighteen hours, probably closer
to twenty-four, and possibly even longer. Giles looked at his watch. It
was nearly four in the morning, and they didn’t have all that much time to
find Ethan before Angel and Spike had to go inside for the day. They
thought darkened the former Watcher’s already bleak mood. They couldn’t
afford to lose two of their searchers, and they also couldn’t stop the
search until night came again. There was too much Ethan could do during
that time.

Riley watched the man in front of him, wondering how to apologize for how he
had reacted earlier. He was still hurt that Buffy had ignored the whole
topic of Angel - and the fact that her ex was a vampire - but he knew
finding the others overshadowed anything he was feeling. His friends were
far more important. Sighing, he opened his mouth to tell Giles as much when
his cell phone rang. He immediately hit the talk button and lifted the
phone to his ear.

"Finn here."

He listened to the man on the other end for a moment, then spoke again.
"We’ll be there in a few minutes," he said as he hung up and turned to face
Giles.

"Who was it?" the older man asked.

"Xander. He and Angel are back at your place."

"And?"

"They have Ethan," Riley replied with a relieved smile.

Part Seventeen

March 2010 - 10:45 a.m.

Angel was the first to arrive.

The vampire entered through the garage, which made it easy for him to avoid
the deadly rays of the sun. He shook hands with Graham, introducing himself
to a man he had actually known for nearly nine years. It was odd doing such
a thing, but the vampire was used to strange things occurring. To most
people, he himself would be considered one of those strange things. After
he and Graham had made the required small talk, Angel turned to Willow.

"I brought all the spellbooks I have in my possession, but I’m not sure if
they’ll be of any use," he told her.

"We’ll just have to look through them and see," the redhead replied. She
cocked her as another use for Angel’s spellbooks came to her.

"You wouldn’t by any chance happen to have a de-ratting spell in there,
would you?"

~~*~~*10:57 a.m.*~~*~~

Willow was in the kitchen with Angel when Joyce and Riley arrived. She
could hear Riley and Graham greeting each other, and she chose to stay where
she was and give the men a chance to talk.

"Willow?"

The redhead turned to see Buffy’s mother standing in the doorway, and Angel
quickly excused himself in order to give the women time to speak alone.

"Mrs. Summers," Willow replied, an uncertain smile on her face. "When did
you get here?" she asked as she stood up. The older woman pulled the
redhead into a hug, oddly comforted by the fact that where Willow came from,
Buffy was still alive. The thought gave her hope that there was still time
to change things.

"I came with Riley and Caitlin. They are my family, you know. Even if
Buffy is gone, Caitlin is still my granddaughter, and Riley will always be
my son, even if it isn’t biologically. Just like you’ll always be my
daughter."

Willow blinked back the tears that came at Joyce’s statement and hugged the
woman harder. "We’re going to save Buffy. We won’t let you have to be
without her. We won’t let that happen to any of us."

"I know, sweetie. I know."

~~*~~*11:03 a.m.*~~*~~

Cordelia entered the girls room and set Davis down, letting him joining
Bailey, who was watching a sing-along video. She glanced at the other
occupants of the room as she came to stand by Willow.

"She looks like Buffy," the brunette commented softly as she nodded in
Caitlin’s direction. The girl had light brown hair - the Slayer’s natural
color - and big blue eyes. The former cheerleader smiled as she noticed the
dolls that Kylia and Caitlin were playing with. "I see Barbie’s still
popular. Fifty years old, and her breasts haven’t even begun to sag. It’s
not fair."

"She’s made of plastic," Willow replied with a little laugh. "Besides,
there’s really nothing to be jealous about. The bimbo can’t hold a job. I
think they actually ran out of careers to give her, and now they’re just
calling the same jobs different names. I swear to you, I saw a commercial
advertising ‘Education Specialist Barbie’ earlier."

Cordelia gave a mock sigh. "What is this world coming to?"

~~*~~*11:23 a.m.*~~*~~

"Sorry we’re late!" a very familiar male voice called out as the new
arrivals entered the Miller home.

Forrest and Joyce looked up from the books they were going through to see
Amy, Anya, and Xander entering with two small children and a load of books.
Anya smiled at the others in the room.

"Xander burned the pancakes again," she informed the others. "And Lily and
Jesse refused to come until they’d had their dad’s special blueberry
pancakes."

Joyce made a face at the former demon. "And you didn’t bring any for us?"

"No. But we did bring books," she replied, holding out her full arms as
evidence.

"I’d have rather had the pancakes."

~~*~~*12:17 p.m.*~~*~~

"You need to get out of the Initiative."

Graham turned at the sound of Riley’s voice. He studied the older version
of his friend, surprised to see the utter seriousness on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"As soon as you get back, leave the group, and never look back. Make sure
Forrest and I leave it, too."

"Why? You’re not making any sense, Finn."

"If you stay with the Initiative, what I said will begin to make sense in a
few months, but things will start going all to Hell just about when you get
back." Pulling an envelope out of his pocket, Riley handed it to Graham.
"This is everything you need to know. I know I’m tempting fate here, but
I’m hoping a lot of trouble can be avoided by my doing this."

"What’s so damn bad about the Initiative? I thought we were the good guys,"
Graham replied, his confusion obvious.

"We were. At least, you, Forrest, and I were. It’s just the people in
charge who weren’t. And Forrest almost went that way, too. Fortunately,
Willow saved his life, and that got him back on the right track. With any
luck, that can all be avoided now," Riley said as he left the room.

Graham looked at the envelope in his hand, then opened it and sat down to
read what was inside.

~~*~~*12:38 p.m.*~~*~~

"Honey, I’m home!" Spike cried out as he burst through the door, taking his
duster off as soon as he reached a spot that was safe from the sun’s rays.

"Uncle Spike! Uncle Spike!" Six little voices cried in unison as the
children ran at the vampire, who dropped to his knees and let himself be
knocked over by the force of their hugs.

Willow smiled at the sight of one of the world’s most vicious vampires being
tackled by a group of little kids - and loving every minute of it. The
redhead didn’t think she’d ever seen Spike so happy. Forrest and Graham,
however, were exchanging astonished looks at the realization that ‘Uncle
Spike’ also happened to be Hostile seventeen. Anya noticed the looks, but
didn’t know the reason for their shock. She simply believed that they were
surprised that the vampire was loved so much by the kids.

"Not only is he great with kids; he’s really good at research, too," she
told them.

"Willow, honey?" Graham said as he looked at his wife. "Can Forrest and I
talk to you and Cordelia in the kitchen?"

~~*~~*1:56 p.m.*~~*~~

All of the adults (except for Spike, who was currently conducting storytime
in the playroom) sat looking through various texts, trying to find a way for
Willow, Graham, Cordelia, and Forrest to get home. The women had explained
to their husbands (with a little help from Riley) that Spike was currently a
part of the Scooby Gang, even though he had originally entered the group
reluctantly. Although still a bit confused by the matter, they had accepted
it without question. Besides, it was obvious that the children had spent a
lot of time with the vampire, and it wasn’t up to them to question the
actions of their future selves.

"Eureka!" Xander’s cry broke the silence, causing the others to jump and
stare at him. "Sorry," he said with a shrug. "I always wanted to say that.
Besides, I really did find something. At least, I think I did."

The man handed the book to Amy, who studied the spell Xander had found
intently.

"Well?" Forrest asked after a moment.

Amy looked up, then smiled.

"This will get you home."

Part Eighteen

February 2000

"You can’t just hold me here against my will, you know," Ethan Rayne said
with a growl that rivaled Angel’s. The brassed off Englishman struggled
against the ropes that held him tied to the chair Xander had brought in from
the dining room. "It’s against the law," he added.

"I really don’t think the law applies to vampires," Xander informed him.
"And since Angel’s the one who beat you up and brought you here..." he
trailed off, having no more to say.

"Oh, sod off," Ethan growled.

Xander turned to Angel, who was currently pacing back and forth like a caged
animal. Both the teen and the vampire were extremely frustrated with their
captive, who refused to tell them what he had done with their friends,
instead choosing to hurl insults and random (and not very intimidating)
threats at them. "Can we gag him?"

"Sounds like a plan to me, especially since he won’t tell us anything
useful. Of course, we wouldn’t have to gag him if he would just SHUT UP!"
The last part came out in a near roar, and both Xander and Ethan shrank back
a bit from the vampire’s fury. After a moment, however, Xander managed to
find the courage to speak again.

"You know, Angel, I think Giles will be pissed if he comes home to discover
you’ve worn a hole in his carpet."

The vampire stopped in his pacing, looking a bit surprised to discover that
he’d been doing it. Sighing, he sat down on the couch, then proceeded to
begin tapping his foot impatiently.

"Look, Deadboy-"

Xander’s comment was cut off by the abrupt entrance of Buffy, Anya, Spike,
Wesley, Riley, and Giles.

"Where’s Willow?" the Slayer burst out.

Xander shrugged, then pointed at Ethan. "He won’t tell us anything useful.
Apparently he’s decided to challenge Angel for the title of Cryptic Guy."
Spike growled menacingly when he heard the Xander’s answer and glared at
Ethan, causing the man to swallow audibly. He took a step towards the
Englishman, only to be stopped by the Slayer.

"You can’t kill him; we don’t know where the others are yet. Besides, don’t
you have a chip in your head that would cause you a whole hell of a lot of
pain if you even tried it?" The vampire snarled quietly, then stepped back,
knowing that the Slayer’s statement was true. He hated it when she was
right.

"We don’t know where the others are, but we have figured out what he was
planning to do while he had us all distracted," Angel said as he rose from
the couch, keeping a watchful eye on his still-snarling childe. He went
over to Giles’s desk and picked up the spellbook he had confiscated from
Ethan. "This is what he was probably planning to do. He had all the
ingredients," he added as he gestured to a bag near the door.

The former Watcher took the book from Angel and studied the spell intently
for a moment. When he looked up again, Ethan could see a flash of Ripper in
his eyes, and the man paled visibly.

"You son of a bitch," Giles yelled as he knocked over the chair Ethan was
tied to. Or he had been tied to it. Sometime during the course of events,
Ethan had managed to loosen his bonds enough to free himself. Ethan rolled
away from the chair and jumped to his feet, prepared to make a run for it.
Giles, however, had other ideas. He
slammed his former friend into the wall hard enough to stun the man, and
Ethan slumped to the floor in a daze.

"What does this mean, Giles?" Buffy asked as she and Riley looked over the
spell that had made the former Watcher so angry. Neither one could make any
sense out of it.

"He was trying to raise a pit demon. A Mafic Demon, if my translations are
correct. They’re huge and rather vicious, but easily controlled by whomever
is enough of an ass to raise one."

"Why? Why did you do this?" Riley asked. Spike rolled his eyes at the
boy’s obtuseness.

"So he could wreak havoc and kill us all, you idiot," the vampire said.
"But, of course, we’ve stopped him now, so no death and destruction for him.
Well, that is, no death and destruction caused by him," he continued as he
stepped closer to Ethan, who was now slowly pushing himself up off the
floor. "He may face his own death and destruction if he doesn’t tell us
where Willow is."

Ethan laughed, a sound that sent chills up Buffy’s spine. "Oh, yes, you’re
quite the guy to be making threats, aren’t you? I heard what the Slayer
said a moment ago, plus I’ve been watching all you for the past week. I
know you can’t hurt anything human. You can’t hurt me, vampire, no matter
how bad you want to," he taunted.

"He can’t, but I can," Angel growled as he vamped out and shoved the man up
against the wall, his arm crossed over Ethan’s throat.

Riley gasped and took a step forward as Angel’s demonic visage emerged. He
had seem vampires in both demon form and human form, but he had never seen
the actual morphing process. Because of all that he had been taught by the
Initiative, Riley felt the urge to pull the vampire away from the man and
protect Ethan, but Buffy put a hand on his arm restraining him. He turned
to look at his girlfriend, but she was watching Angel and Ethan. She seemed
fairly unconcerned over the turn of events, and Riley realized she wished
that she was the one with her arm across Ethan’s throat. Riley turned his
attention back to the men, telling himself that Ethan was evil - he’d seen
proof of that - and didn’t deserve his help. The man deserved what he was
getting.

"What are you going to do?" Ethan gasped out as Angel increased the pressure
on his throat. "Kill me?"

The vampire pretended to consider it for a moment, even going so far as to
lean in and sniff Ethan’s throat, causing the man to try and press himself
even further into the wall as he flinched away. After a moment, Angel
smiled wickedly, his fangs flashing dangerously. "Actually, I was thinking
more along the lines of torturing you."

Spike’s lips curved in an evil grin that matched his sire’s. "I’d be happy
to go get the chainsaw," he offered, causing Ethan’s eyes to widen even
further.

"Ripper! Aren’t you going to do something?" the man cried out.

"I was thinking about watching it, actually."

"He wasn’t a Watcher all those years for nothing," Xander said with a slight
smile.

Giles smiled a bit himself before continuing. "Maybe I could even give them
a few pointers. I’d venture a guess and say that Angel’s a bit out of
practice with the whole torturing thing, and Spike can’t exactly help, what
with the implant in his head."

"Oh, I could work through the pain," Spike said with an evil glint in his
eyes.

Ethan turned his pleading eyes on Buffy. "You’re the Slayer! You’re
supposed to help me!"

Buffy shrugged. "I’m supposed to fight evil. You’re evil. If Angel wants
a go at you, I say more power to him. Of course," the Slayer added as she
stepped closer to the squirming man who was being held in place by the
extremely pissed off vampire, "I may change my tune if you tell us how to
get Willow and the others back."

Ethan’s eyes danced around the room, looking for someone that would help
him. The silly boy - Xander, was it? - were leaning up against the wall,
glaring at him. They didn’t seem likely to help in any torture, but they
didn’t seem likely to stop it, either. Ripper, the Slayer, and the two
vampires were all obviously ready to bash his skull in, and the other two
men - the Slayer’s boy and the other Watcher - were simply standing there,
watching the events as they unfolded. With a sigh of defeat, Ethan met the
Slayer’s eyes.

"I’ll tell you how to get them back. Just don’t let Spike get the
chainsaw."

Part Nineteen

March 2010

Amy looked the ingredients of the spell over, then nodded, satisfied with
what was before her. "This is everything."

"And the kids have no idea what we’re doing, right?" Forrest clarified. He
didn’t want the children to come out during the middle of the spell and end
up scarred for life by what they saw.

"They’re with Joyce and Xander," Amy reminded him. "Those two will keep the
kids busy. Plus, I’ve completely sealed off this room. They can’t hear
anything that happens in here, and they won’t be able to enter, either."

"Good," Graham said with a curt nod, trying to hide his nervousness. He
knew that this spell was the way home, but he was still uncomfortable about
the prospect of using magick. He realized that was how he had come to be
here in the first place, but he hadn’t exactly been aware of the fact that
he was being magickally transported at the time. Now, he was actively
seeking out magick as a way to get home, and he was worried that things
would go awry. What if they ended up in the wrong time or place?

He sincerely hoped they didn’t end up in Zimbabwe.

Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair, then looked over at Willow, whose
full attention was being given to a sheet of paper she held in her hand.

"What’s that?" he asked, coming up behind her and sliding his arms around
her waist. She responded by leaning into him slightly. They hadn’t had
much of a chance to talk about what had happened before the others arrived,
but Graham hoped that they were both on the same page. Given the way Willow
reacted to his touch, he was pretty damn sure she felt the same way he did.

"It’s a spell," Willow told him as she showed it to him. "It should allow
me to de-rat Amy when we get back. I’m trying to memorize it."

"Why?" Cordelia asked, a bit confused.

Willow shrugged as she stepped away from Graham. "We don’t know for sure if
the paper will come with us. These aren’t our real bodies," she reminded
them as she gestured to herself. "These bodies belong to our future selves.
We can’t be sure what will and won’t come with us when we go back."

Graham turned his head to see Riley’s eye widen at the statement, and he
knew his friend was thinking about the information of the Initiative that
Riley had given him. Graham touched the pocket that held the envelope, then
met his friends eyes, trying to tell him without speaking that he had read
it and would pass the information along. He knew the message had gotten
through when his friend visibly relaxed.

"Um, guys?" Amy said tentatively. "It’s time to do the spell."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

February 2000

Ethan glared at the Slayer, then glanced at Angel. One look at the vampire
had Ethan going back to work at preparing the spell. The vampire was
holding a knife that Spike had brought in (Giles didn’t own a chainsaw), and
he didn’t look like he would hesitate in slicing and dicing Ethan if the man
balked anymore.

Giles finished translating the spell Ethan had shown them, smiling slightly
as he realized that Ethan had given them the correct spell. Carefully,
Giles added a few very precise words, ensuring that the spell would work
perfectly.

"Are you ready?" he asked his former friend.

Ethan looked at the ingredients in front of him, then nodded, a rather
unattractive pout on his face. He hated it when the Slayer and her friends
spoiled his fun. "I’m ready," he said with a sigh.

"Good," Angel put in with a slight growl. A feral smile crossed his face as
he studied the incredibly sharp knife in his hand. "Oh, and Ethan? Don’t
screw up. I’d hate to have to use this on you."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

March 2010

Angel, Amy, Anya, and Spike moved to their spots on the outer edge of the
circle they had formed while Willow, Cordelia, Forrest, and Graham crowded
inside the circle, which was edged with the various herbs that were the
ingredients of the spell. Riley stood on alert, ready to help if anything
seemed to go wrong.

Calmly, the four that were casting the spell lit the candles that were in
front of them. Amy started to chant, and the other three spellcasters
followed suit.

In the circle, Forrest grabbed Cordelia and held her close, suddenly
nervous. The brunette clung to him as the room began to flash with light.
Graham grabbed Willow’s hand, and she looked up, meeting his eyes. He could
see complete calm in her green eyes, and he focused on that, trying to calm
his own fear as the room began to spin out
of control and the candles flared.

Everyone gasped as a blinding flash of light filled the room.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

February 2000

Ethan sat in the middle of the circle, and Giles, Angel, Wesley, and Anya
acted as the corners, sitting just outside the edge. Buffy was now in
possession of the knife, and Ethan didn’t feel any safer with her holding it
than he did when it was in Angel’s hands.

The Englishman gulped audibly as he mixed the herbs required for the spell.
He frowned as he realized Giles had made a slight alteration in the spell,
but he didn’t have time to translate. He imagined it was simply a few words
to insure that the group actually appeared here, in this room, instead of
where they had been taken from.

Ethan met Wesley’s eyes - the former Watcher was the only one that didn’t
creep him out - and nodded, indicating that he was ready to begin the spell.
The four outside of the circle immediately began to chant as they lit
their candles. Across the room, Riley reached for Buffy’s hand, and the
Slayer squeezed it gently, sending a nervous look in her boyfriend’s
direction. Spike simply watched the others, a look of intense concentration
on his face.

Ethan began to recite the part of the spell that had been assigned to him,
and he drank the potion that he had made, trying not to gag at the rather
rank taste.

The chanting of the others grew louder, and the candles on the outside of
the circle flared. The herbs that physically made up the circle began to
dissolve; the smoke they gave off effectively separating Ethan from everyone
else. The smoke filled the room, as the candles flared even higher. The
room was soon so hazy that the occupants of the room could no longer see
each other. The voices of those casting the spell rose in volume, growing
more forceful.

Everyone was thrown to the ground as a wave of magick shook the room.

Part Twenty

February 2000

Willow slowly pushed herself up, wearily running a hand over her face and
through her hair.

Her short hair.

The redhead immediately looked down at herself, thrilled to discover that
she was wearing the shorts and tank top she had gone to bed in the night
this all started. Sighing in relief, Willow pushed herself up off Graham’s
chest - his bare chest - and glanced around her. She searched through the
haziness of the living room - apparently she was now in Giles’s apartment -
and her eyes almost immediately settled on her best friend.

"Buffy!" she cried as she launched herself across the room.

The Slayer tossed the knife that she was still holding away from her and
opened her arms to her friend. "Oh, thank God you’re okay," she said as she
held the redhead. After a moment, Xander joined in the hug, and the three
best friends simply held each other for a moment.

Graham slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, smiling when he saw
Willow with Buffy and Xander. He glanced down at himself, too happy to be
home to feel embarrassed that he was only wearing a pair of flannel pants
that he often slept in. Groaning, he tried to pull himself to his feet, and
he felt a cool hand grasp his arm and help him up. He turned his head and
saw Spike beside him.

The blonde vampire gazed steadily at the young man he was helping, waiting
for him to start yelling about an escaped hostile. He could see that the
man recognized him, but Graham did nothing about it; he simply accepted the
vampire’s help.

Cordelia immediately looked down at her body, breathing a sigh of relief
when she realized that yes, this was indeed her body, and no, she wasn’t
pregnant. It had been kind of nice being pregnant with Forrest’s child in
the future, but she was only nineteen now. She had plenty of time to think
about a family later. Right now, she had to make sure she had her own life
on track; she wasn’t ready to take care of anyone else. The brunette lifted
her head, surprised to discover that Angel was right in front of her. The
vampire smiled slightly at her, then pulled her into his arms for a brief
hug.

Forrest sat up carefully, looking around for the others. Willow was in the
arms of Buffy and Xander, Graham was standing with the help of Spike, and
Cordelia, wearing a pair of green satin pajamas, was getting a quick hug
from Angel. After being released by the vampire, Cordelia turned and smiled
at Forrest, then pulled him into her arms.

"We made it back," she whispered, and Forrest pulled her even closer.

"Thank God," he whispered.

Willow slowly eased herself away from her friends, then turned to find
Graham. He was standing next to Spike, and the redhead went over to him
burrowing into his warmth.

"You okay?" Graham whispered as he pulled her as close as possible.

"Yeah," she replied as she looked up at him.

He grinned as he lifted a hand to brush her hair from her face. "I like it
short," he told her, causing her to smile.

Riley watched the entire scene unfold with a look of confusion on his face.
What the hell was Graham talking about? He liked what short? And how had
the four of them become so close in hardly more than a day? Before he could
speak, however, Anya did.

"What’s this?" she asked as she held up a sheet of paper.

Willow immediately pulled away from Graham and knelt down to look at the
paper. After a moment, she looked up again, beaming. "It’s a spell to
de-rat Amy."

"Do you think it will work?" Buffy asked.

"It should," the redhead replied with a smile. "Amy’s the one who gave it
to me."

"What do you mean?" She looked at her friends, trying to figure out what
had caused the change in them. "What exactly did Ethan do to you guys?"

"Ethan did this?"

"Yeah; he wanted to raise a demon, and he took you guys in order to distract
us," Buffy told them. "Where did he send you guys?"

"He sent us to the future," Forrest said with a grin. "Which, by the way,
is why we aren’t freaking out over the fact that there are two VAMPIRES in
the room," he continued with a pointed look at Angel and Spike.

"How far into the future?" Anya asked, curious.

"Ten years."

"I’m still hanging out with you people ten years from now? Oh, bloody
hell!"

"The kids love you," Cordelia informed him with a wicked grin, causing the
vampire to cringe.

"Kids?" Buffy repeated.

Willow nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but only a yawn came out. The
redhead clamped her hand to her mouth and reddened in embarrassment.

"You four have got to be tired," Angel said as he smiled gently at the
little redhead, thanking God that she and Cordelia (and Forrest and Graham,
too, of course) were okay.

"Time travel will do that to you," Cordelia said as perkily as she could
manage as she leaned back against Forrest, stifling a yawn of her own.
Forrest drew her closer to him and gently urged her to put her head on his
shoulder.

"What is going on here?" Riley finally asked, speaking for the first time.
His gaze kept jumping back from couple to couple. Both couples seemed way
too friendly towards one another to be people who barely knew each other.

Cordelia blushed slightly. "Well, you see, in the future, Forrest and I are
together, and so are Willow and Graham."

"And you’ve decided to jump start the relationships now that you’re back
where you belong?" Buffy asked, a grin spreading across her face.

The couples looked at each other, then nodded as one.

"Cordy and I will have to settle for the long distance thing until I go to
graduate school next semester, though," Forrest put in. He and the brunette
had discussed things before coming back to their own time, and they had
decided that Forrest could go to school in LA and work for Angel. Now they
just had to convince the vampire that he could use Forrest’s help.

"Anything else we should know about?" Xander asked with a grin.

The four time travelers looked at each other, knowing they had much to
discuss, but not wanting to dampen the mood. Graham reached into the pocket
of his pants, grateful to feel the envelope that Riley had given him inside.
He knew it would help convince the others to leave the Initiative, and he
hoped that they would be in time to stop the events that Riley had
described. Willow, on the other hand, was thinking about her best friend’s
future death, but she knew that they now had the knowledge to prevent it.
Stifling another yawn, Willow came to a decision. The story of what had
happened could wait until tomorrow. Well, later today, she amended as she
saw the pinkening of the sky that signaled the dawn.

"Can we tell you later?" Willow asked. "I’m kind of tired."

Buffy nodded, knowing that there was something big that was being kept from
them. She also knew that Willow would tell her everything when the time was
right. Right now, it was time to be content with the fact that they had
their friends back. "Go get some sleep," she told them.

The two couples looked at each other, then nodded in silent agreement.
"We’re going to go back to the dorm, if that’s okay," Willow told the
others. The group simply nodded in response, knowing instinctively that the
four weren’t ready to be separated just yet.
It was obvious that their experience had formed an unbreakable bond among
them. Smiling slightly, Willow took Graham’s hand and allowed him to lead
her to the front door. She knew there was much they had to tell the others,
but they had time. Right now, they had to rest. They were all exhausted,
and they had a lot to do if they wanted to fix things in the future. They
needed to be rested in order to do them. The foursome was just about to
head out when Buffy’s curious question stopped them in their tracks.

"Where’s Ethan?"

Everyone looked around the room, as if expecting the Englishman to jump out
at them. Everyone expect Giles, that is.

"You added words to the spell," Angel said to the former Watcher as
realization dawned. "What did you do to him?"

"I... sent him on a little trip," the Watcher admitted.

"Where?" Buffy asked, trying to look stern.

"Siberia," came the strained answer as the man tried not to laugh. "1853."

"Giles!" the entire group cried as one.

"What?" he asked indignantly. "I think he deserved it. Don’t you?"

The others exchanged glances, then responded in the only way they could
think of.

They burst out laughing.

The End