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Whatever it Takes

by LightLes

Disclaimers - None of these characters belong to me. They are all the intellectual property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Warner Bros. television, the little zombie guy who wanders around during the end credits, etc.

Credits - The "memorized" lines about the Slayer (starting at the bottom of page 14, when Giles says "As long as there have been vampires...." come from the back cover of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Official Watcher’s Guide which was published by Pocket Books in 1998.

Author’s Notes - This was inspired by "The Wish" and, while this is an original story, it does contain some of the characters, events, and dialogue from that episode. Also, in part 4, to avoid confusion, "Giles" refers to the guy we’ve all come to know and love over the past two and a half seasons. "Rupert" is his double in the alternate universe. "Will" refers to our short-haired, Oz-dating witch, "Willow" refers to her identical twin in the alternate universe. Also, in this story, Cordelia makes her wish AFTER the events in "Amends." Therefore, Angel is on speaking terms with Giles.

RATING - R for some violence, language, and adult content.

< > indicates thought, * * indicates emphasis.

Feedback - I need it! I want it! I must have it!! Please send all comments, positive or negative, or questions to LightLes@aol.com

Dedication - To my friend Christina - who inspired me to write this, has helped iron out all those pesky plot problems, and who has been an excellent editor.

******

PART 1

******

November, 1998

Cordelia was furious. She couldn’t *believe* that Xander still had a thing for Buffy. He hadn’t even told her about it. She had only found out when she accidentally overheard him talking about it to Willow. <What does Buffy have that I don’t?> she asked herself, time and time again. Of course, if Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, then Cordelia would never have started hanging out with that group, she wouldn’t have started dating Xander, and maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t have fallen in love with him. If you looked at things a certain way, this was all really Buffy’s fault....

******

"I wish Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale." Cordelia said in an exasperated tone of voice to her new friend Anya.

"Done." Anya’s face no longer looked human and for one brief, terrifying moment Cordelia wondered if she was a vampire. She had just enough time to recall that vampires couldn’t walk around in broad daylight before her entire world went grey and fuzzy. When her head cleared, Cordelia found herself standing in the same spot, only she was alone. Looking around, she saw no sign of the girl....thing....that was Anya. She did, however, notice some rather significant differences in the school building and grounds. For one thing, the walls looked the way they had before last summer’s paint job. Cordelia knew that the school board had only agreed to finance the paint job after they realized that they were going to have to spend to fix up the library and that had only been necessary because of Buffy......Cordelia Chase smiled.

"My wish came true!" she marveled. "Buffy must have never come to Sunnydale!" She silently thanked Anya and, humming brightly, she briefly fingered the necklace her newest confidant had given her and walked inside to see what else was different.

*****

".....so I was wondering....." Jeff stammered "would you consider going with me to the Midwinter Brunch?" Cordelia stared at him in surprise for a moment, then regained her composure.

"I’ll think about it." she said loftily, reveling in her rediscovered powers of attraction. He smiled gratefully and wandered off.

"Cordy, you reign!" Harmony said, admiration evident in her voice.

"I do?" It had been so long since she had experienced the admiration of her peers...well, this kind of admiration anyway....that she was still having a bit of trouble re-adjusting. "I do." she said more confidently. Cordelia was thrilled with this non-Buffy Sunnydale. True, there seemed to be far fewer students at school and everyone was wearing somber dark clothing, but she was once again the girl that every guy wanted to date and every girl wanted to be friends with. She couldn’t wait to see Xander and rub his face in his perpetual un-coolness.

As Cordelia, Harmony, and their friends walked into eighth period English, Cordy couldn’t help but notice the large number of empty chairs in the room. <Where is everybody?> She was about to ask Harmony about the absent students when she spied a familiar mane of red hair. Willow was seated in her usual spot–front row center–and was bent over a notebook. <I see some things haven’t changed.> Harmony stepped in front of Willow, completely blocking Cordelia’s view.

"How’s it going, Scarface?" When no response was forthcoming, Harmony moved towards the back of the room while the others laughed. Cordelia giggled a bit to fit in, but didn’t understand the remark until she got a good look at Willow’s face. A long, jagged scar ran from her left temple down to the corner of her mouth, making the girl look a bit like an old cloth doll that had been repaired by an inexpert hand. Cordelia nearly gasped at the sight. <How did that happen?> She sat down, but continued to study Willow, noticing several other differences between this girl and the Willow Rosenberg she had come to know over the past year. This Willow’s hair was long. Cordelia guessed that when she stood, it reached her waist. She was also dressed in a different style of clothing; tight black jeans and a forest green t-shirt, which were a major contrast to the pastel colors and loose fit that Cordelia was used to seeing on Willow. But what surprised her most of all was that, instead of brightly colored sneakers, Willow was wearing a pair of well-worn, black work boots.

The teacher walked in and class began. Fortunately, they were working on stuff that Cordelia had already done, so she was able to focus entirely on the strangeness of this universe. <There are fewer people, everyone wears dark clothes, Willow has a scar and, except for the hair, looks like she stepped out of "Soldier of Fortune," the school looks like nobody’s done anything to clean it up in years....What’s going on?) A closer examination of Willow revealed that she wasn’t paying much attention either, which was certainly a surprise. She almost appeared to be asleep, but the occasional shift in position convinced Cordelia that she was just deep in thought.

The bell rang and everyone began gathering their things. "Remember," Mr. Garrity said "tomorrow we will be holding the monthly memorial service, so no classes." Grabbing his briefcase, he practically ran out of the room. Willow wasn’t far behind. Cordelia blinked in surprise, then turned to Harmony.

"So do you want to hang out?" she asked, secretly afraid that the other girl would laugh at her.

"I can’t." Harmony said. "My mom worries when I’m late."

"Since when?" Cordelia picked up her books and followed Harmony to the door. "Do you want to go to the Bronze tonight?"

"Are you kidding?" The expression on Harmony’s face told Cordelia that the question had been a mistake.

"Right." she murmured to herself. "The Bronze isn’t cool in this reality. I’ve got to learn to make these little adjustments."

"What’s with you, Cordy?" Harmony looked at her askance. "You wear this ‘bite-me’ outfit, you make jokes about going to the Bronze...."

"I...uh...hit my head yesterday, and I’ve been forgetting a lot of stuff." Cordelia lied. It was lame, but Harmony seemed to buy it. "Just out of curiosity, Xander Harris is still a date-less loser, right?" Harmony looked at her in horror.

"Xander’s dead." she whispered. "He has been for almost two years."

*****

<This is really, really creepy....> Cordelia shivered as she walked down the deserted street. Her car hadn’t been in the parking lot of the school, so she was forced to walk home. Night had fallen and what citizens there were in Sunnydale seemed to have disappeared entirely. Cordelia had seen a few people locking gates and running into houses, but nobody had wanted to stand still long enough to tell her what was going on. So now, she was headed for the Bronze, in the hopes that someone there could help her. There was also a shadow moving in the trees to her left that was making her very nervous....

"Well, well, well if it isn’t Cordelia Chase." Cordelia nearly shrieked when Xander stepped out of the darkness. Like Willow, he looked significantly different than his counterpart in what Cordelia was rapidly beginning to consider the "normal" world. He wore tight leather pants, a form-fitting white t-shirt, and a black duster. She hated to admit it, but he actually looked really good.

"Xander, you scared me!" she gasped. "What’s going on? Harmony said you were dead!"

"Now, why would she say a thing like that?" he asked, and there was no mistaking the mocking tone in his voice. Just then, a strange girl walked up behind him. She was short, blonde, and dressed in a tight leather mini-dress.

"Can I play now?" she asked in a baby-doll voice, looking up at Xander.

"I thought we agreed it was my turn." he admonished her, stroking her lips with his fingers.

"I don’t know what you two are talking about." Cordelia said, irritated at their strange behavior "but we have to find Buffy."

"Buffy?" Xander’s attention was immediately riveted. "The Slayer?"

"No, Buffy the Dog-faced girl." Cordelia nearly shouted. "Who do you think I’m talking about?"

"This is the part I hate." the blonde whined. "When there isn’t any screaming."

"Don’t worry, baby." Xander cooed. "The entertainment is about to begin." He turned back to Cordelia and she was stunned to see that his features had shifted into those of a vampire. She took a step backwards, turned to run and tripped on a crack in the pavement. <Oh God, I’m going to die...> she thought just before her head hit the street and she lost consciousness. She never saw the black van arrive.

"Aw swell, it’s the white hats." Xander hissed, as Rupert Giles jumped out brandishing a cross. With a glare in the librarian’s direction, he and his friend vanished back into the shadows from which they had come. Larry Higgins jumped out of the back of the van and knelt at Cordelia’s side.

"It’s Cordelia Chase." he said. "What’s she doing out here?"

"We can ask questions after we get her inside." Giles answered. Larry nodded and placed Cordelia into the van.

****

The first thing Cordelia noticed was the pain in her head. The second was the absence of pain in her neck. Raising her hands, she felt for bite marks and, mercifully, found none.

"Cordelia?" Her eyes popped open at the blessedly familiar voice.

"Giles? Oh thank God it’s you!" she gasped, attempting to sit up. "We have to get Buffy....it’s not supposed to be this way....you *have* to find Buffy!" He stared at her in shock, all the while attempting to push her back down on the table.

"What? Find Buffy?" he stammered in confusion.

"Yes, find Buffy." Cordelia finally succeeded in sitting up, then wished she hadn’t. "You’re the Watcher, so you have to find her...." A horrible thought dawned her. "You are the Watcher, aren’t you?"

"I....yes...How did you....?" Giles was interrupted when somebody grabbed his arm and pushed him roughly into the rare books cage. The door slammed shut behind him and Cordy heard the lock snap into place.

"You’re stuck in a cage." Xander smirked. "Not too bright, book guy." Cordelia jumped off the table and attempted to flee, but was caught by the mysterious blonde who shoved her into Xander’s arms. "So," he said, turning Cordelia so her back was to him. "You’re a Watcher, huh? Watch this." Cordelia felt, rather than saw his features shift into those of the demon and prepared herself for death for the second time that night. Just as she felt Xander’s teeth pierce her neck, Cordelia had a fleeting vision of something out of the corner of her eye. Whatever it was connected with the side of Xander’s head, causing him to reel backwards and loosen his grip on her arms long enough for her to break free. Knowing that the blonde vampire chick was somewhere to her right, she made a break for the library doors. Crouching behind the circulation desk, she peeked out to see what was happening.

Vampire Xander was still recovering from the initial attack, while his little girlfriend was attempting to defend him against the unknown intruder. She was severely hampered by her tight skirt, which limited her movement significantly. The stranger made short work of her, easily driving a stake through her heart. Xander growled a challenge and rushed the newcomer. He received a fist in the face for his trouble. The punch connected solidly with his nose, breaking it. Uttering a short, sharp scream Xander turned and ran for the stacks. The other started to follow, but stopped at the sound of Giles’ voice.

"Let him go. There could be others." Cautiously, Cordelia stood up and only then recognized her savior.

"Willow?" she gasped in shock. This was definitely the same girl she’d seen in class earlier, but her hair was now pinned up in a tight bun and she had added a worn black leather jacket to her ensemble. Willow completely ignored Cordelia and directed all her attention to the man in the cage.

"Are you all right?" she asked, the worry evident in her voice.

"I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about. Where the bloody hell have you been?" Fury and fear were warring for domination in both his face and voice.

"I’m sorry I’m late." Willow’s voice was soft and soothing. "I ran into a bit of trouble on the way over here."

"Were you hurt?" Any trace of anger was completely gone from Giles’ demeanor.

"Relax, I’m fine."

"I’ll be the judge of that." he said, then remembered his situation. "Just as soon as you get me out of here." Willow looked around for the key, then cursed softly. Cordelia’s eyes widened in surprise. <Where did Willow learn words like *that*?>

"He must have taken the key with him." Willow muttered "I guess we’ll have to do this another way." Cordelia watched in fascination as the redhead placed her hand on the lock, closed her eyes, and muttered a few words. The lock glowed briefly, then fell to the floor.

"Remind me to get another one tomorrow." Giles said as he flung open the door. Gathering Willow into his arms, he hugged her tightly, then stepped back long enough to look into her face. "Well, you don’t seem to be any the worse for wear." he said gently. "Still, I think I’d better make sure...." He bent suddenly and began to kiss Willow passionately. She, in turn, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Cordelia stood in stunned silence, watching this exchange and hoping that this was all some sort of crazy, taco-induced dream. The tableau was broken by a soft cough coming from the doors.

"Um...hi." If Cordelia had thought she was beyond all surprise, she was wrong. Oz Adams and Larry Higgins were standing there, not looking at all upset about the fact that the librarian was kissing a student. Giles and Willow reluctantly disentangled themselves, though neither looked particularly embarrassed to have been caught in such a compromising position.

"Hey guys. How’s it going?" Willow asked cheerfully.

"Not bad." Oz replied, darting a questioning look in Cordelia’s direction. "What’s she doing here?" Willow seemed to register Cordelia’s presence for the first time and blushed furiously.

"Oh no." she groaned.

"It’s all right...I think." Giles hastened to reassure her. "Right before our little....adventure....Cordelia said something intriguing. She *knows* Willow."

"Well, of course she knows." Willow grumbled. "We were making out in front of her."

"Not about that." Giles chuckled. "I mean about vampires and....and me. She knows I’m the Watcher. And she knows about Buffy Summers." Willow’s eyebrows shot up.

"How is that possible?" she whispered.

"I was just about to ask her...." Cordelia was fed up with people ignoring her and decided to remind them all that she was still in the room.

"I know because this is not the way things are supposed to be." she snapped.

"What do you mean? Things aren’t ‘supposed to be’, they just are." Larry walked to the table and took a seat, casting a challenging glare in Cordelia’s direction.

"Look," Cordelia said, impatiently. "Where I come from, Buffy Summers, the Slayer, lives in Sunnydale. I don’t know what’s going on here, but there seem to be an awful lot of people missing and things are all....icky....and don’t even get me started on the obvious effect all this is having on hormones...." she cast a withering look in Giles and Willow’s direction. "If you want to fix things, you need to get Buffy here, pronto!"

"Where exactly do you come from? Mars?" The skepticism in Oz’s voice could hardly be missed. He joined Larry at the table.

"Why don’t you start at the beginning?" Giles interrupted. Cordelia sighed and sat down.

"I made a stupid wish." Cordy sighed. "I wished that Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale. There was this girl–Anya–and she...I don’t know....somehow she....brought me here, I guess."

"That’s impossible." Larry scoffed. Willow silenced him with a look.

"This is the Hellmouth. You should know by now that nothing is impossible." Willow said. Turning towards Cordelia, she thought a minute and asked "Are things really that different in your world?"

"Definitely. At home, there are vampires but not nearly this many."

"Well." Oz grimaced. "Open Hellmouths do tend to attract the little buggers."

"Open Hellmouth? The Master is free?" Cordelia hadn’t been a part of the Scooby Gang when they were dealing with the Master, but she had heard enough stories to know that the world was very lucky that Buffy Summers had been able to kill him.

"As a bird." Oz shook his head.. "He runs this town at night."

"So why doesn’t everyone just leave?" Cordelia was perplexed. True, in her world, most people didn’t know about vampires, but obviously these people knew *something* bad happened to people who wandered around at night.....

"We can’t." Willow sighed. "The Barrier prevents us from leaving."

"The Barrier?" Cordelia was thoroughly confused. Willow was about to respond, when Giles spoke.

"Willow, why don’t you take Cordelia home and explain things to her. I’m going to stay here and see what I can dig up on travel between dimensions." Just then, he noticed Cordelia’s necklace. "Where did you get that? I can’t help but think I’ve seen that design before." he asked, gesturing at the pendant.

"Anya gave it to me."

"May I see it?"

"Sure." Cordelia shrugged and handed it to him.

"What do you want us to do?" Oz asked.

"You might as well go home, too." Giles sighed. "It’s late and I don’t think that there’s much more we can do tonight."

"We’ll give you a ride." Oz said to Willow, then stood up. The others did the same, and Willow went to stand before Giles.

"Be careful.." she ordered, staring directly into his eyes.

"I will." he said softly, stroking her cheek. "I promise." They shared a lingering kiss, then Willow turned back towards Oz.

"Let’s go."

The twenty minute ride was spent in virtual silence. Cordelia briefly noted the Oz’s van lacked the wild paint job and odd accouterments she was used to, but was otherwise focused on trying to figure out why Giles and Willow seemed to think that it was okay to neck in the high school library. Finally, Oz dropped them off on a dark, silent street. Willow quickly ushered Cordelia up a short walkway and through a door, and it wasn’t until she was inside that Cordelia realized they weren’t at Willow’s house.

"You want something to drink?" The redhead shrugged off her jacket and tossed it onto a rack that was standing by the door.

"Uh...yeah, sure. What do you have?"

"Your choices are tea or milk." <Whatever happened to Willow Rosenberg, Coca-Cola (tm) addict?> Cordelia settled on tea and while Willow busied herself with the kettle and stove, she took the opportunity to study her surroundings.

It might not have been Willow’s house, but it was very obvious that Willow lived there. Her computer, complete with the little decals taped to the side of the monitor, was sitting on a table in one corner of the room and Cordelia could see a neat stack of schoolbooks on the coffee table. In fact, Cordelia could see books on the walls, the floor, and the furniture. Many of them were quite old and resembled the musty tomes of esoterica that could usually be found in the library. A quick glance at some of the covers revealed that, indeed, these were books on demons, vampires, witchcraft and other matters of the occult. Besides the computer table, the only other surface not covered with books was a cabinet which held a high quality stereo system. Cordelia examined the music selection, expecting to find Willow’s usual blend of Celtic music, classic rock, and country. What she didn’t expect to find was the rather large collection of ‘60's and ‘70's heavy metal.

A flight of stairs led to what Cordelia presumed was the master bedroom. Two more doors opened off of the upstairs balcony and she guessed they led to a bathroom and a guest bedroom or office. Picking a stack of books off the couch, she sat down and continued to stare until Willow returned with two cups of tea. Handing the mugs to Cordelia, Willow cleared the rest of the books off of the couch and made herself comfortable. She sat with her back resting against an armrest and curled her legs under her body. She looked relaxed for the first time that evening. Gratefully, she accepted the tea Cordelia offered her and sipped it gingerly.

"I guess you’ve got a lot of questions." she finally said.

"Tons! Like, what happened to Buffy? Where are we? Since when did you start listening to acid rock? And why on God’s Green Earth are you making it with Rupert Giles????" Willow blushed at the last question, then took a deep breath.

"Get comfortable. This is a long story."

*****

PART 2

*****

January, 1997

At precisely 7 o’clock on the morning of January 5, Willow Rosenberg walked into the Sunnydale High School Library and nearly passed out from surprise.

"Wow!" she gasped.

"Can I help you?" Rupert Giles had seen her come in and wondered why a student was in the library so early on the first day of the new semester. At first, he thought that she might be the one he was sent here to Watch, but then remembered that the Slayer was blonde. At the sound of his voice, the redheaded girl squeaked and nearly bolted. "I’m sorry." Giles said, trying not to laugh. "I didn’t mean to startle you."

"It’s...it’s okay." A slow flush crept up Willow’s cheeks. "I....they asked me to come and show the new librarian around."

"They did?" Giles was genuinely surprised. "That was thoughtful of them." Coming around the desk, he extended his hand. "Rupert Giles." Smiling shyly, the girl shook hands briefly.

"Willow Rosenberg." Her voice was soft and Giles had to strain to catch her name. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." They stood in awkward silence until Giles finally hit upon a suitable topic of conversation. "So....what do you think of the new library?" He watched in fascination as the shy, awkward girl before him suddenly came alive with energy and excitement.

"Oh! It’s wonderful! It’s so big!" Willow slowly walked to the table and simply stared around her for a minute. "I can’t wait to explore! Our old library was okay, but it didn’t really have much....just stuff I’ve already read." She seemed to have completely forgotten him and was smiling broadly. Giles took a moment to study her, noting the long red hair, the large green eyes, and the slightly mis-matched clothing. He pegged her as the intellectual type and was instantly wary. He would probably have to devise some method to prevent her from discovering some of the library’s more....interesting volumes.

"Yes, well the school board did ask me to expand the collection....." Just as suddenly as she had gone, the bashful, gawky teenage girl was back. She ducked her head slightly so that her hair covered much of her face, but Giles could still see the trace of a smile on her lips.

"I should take you to the faculty lounge so you can get your mailbox and stuff." She abruptly turned and walked towards the exit, pausing only when he reached past her to open the door. Murmuring her thanks, she led him to the lounge, then the principal’s office. She introduced him to several other faculty members and he asked a few questions, learning that she was a sophomore and that she had an intense love for computers.

"Well, then perhaps you can show me what to do with the one in the library." he suggested. She looked up at him in confusion, obviously assuming that, as a teacher, he was well versed in the latest technology. He hastened to correct that belief. "Frankly, I’m useless with anything more complex than a toaster oven." She laughed softly and agreed to offer her services as tutor. By this time, it was nearly time for the first bell and they were walking back to the library.

"Willow! Hey Will!" Both Giles and Willow turned at the sound of her name. Giles saw two boys at the other end of the hall, one on a skateboard. In attempting to show off, the lad had accidentally bumped into a well-dressed brunette girl who was currently in the process of giving him a good dressing-down.

"That’s my friend Xander." Willow explained, blushing furiously, "and that’s Jessie." The two youths had finally made their way to Willow’s side and were both babbling incoherently. After several attempts, she managed to interrupt them long enough to introduce them to the new librarian. Apparently, they did not share her love of books, since they only gave him a perfunctory glance before turning back to Willow. Grinning, Giles shook his head and assured Willow that he could find his way back to the library. As he left, he overheard a snippet of the three friends’ conversation.

"I finished it, Willow. Now you have to live up to your end of the bargain." Xander was saying as they walked down the hall.

"All right." Willow sighed. "When?"

"Tonight...." Giles heard no more as they blended into the crowd of students. He returned to the sanctuary of his books and waited for the Slayer. She never came.

****

Giles approached the night-club with a mixed sense of loathing and fear. He could hear the loud music from halfway down the street and knew that his ears would probably be ringing for the next several hours. Still, he had no choice. Buffy Summers had not shown up in school that day and he had to find her. He had already tried to locate an address or phone number through directory assistance, but had not succeeded. <Well, she just moved to town..... maybe her mother hasn’t gotten the phone installed yet.> He had debated waiting a few days to see if she turned up on her own, but he had the strange feeling that time was important and that he, and Sunnydale, didn’t have much of it. That was why he was now submitting himself to the leer of an impudent bouncer and the suffocation of being pressed up against a number of young people who were all trying to get in at once.

As quickly as he could, Giles made his way to the balcony that surrounded the main dance floor. He had seen pictures of Buffy, but still wasn’t quite sure if he could pick her out of a crowd. Since this was apparently the only night-life for the underage set, he had decided to test his luck. As he scanned the crowd below, he caught sight of Willow’s friend Xander dancing with a blonde girl, but paid him little heed. He focused on the blonde for a moment, then discarded her as a possibility when a toss of her hair gave him a good view of her face. Giles saw the two begin to walk towards the exit, then turned his attention back to finding Buffy. After a few minutes more, he gave up the search and left, heading for his car which was parked two blocks away.

As he walked down the street, he caught sight of a girl walking ahead of him. He briefly considered introducing himself and warning her of the dangers of being out at night, alone, but then remembered that American women had a tendency to react badly to strange men who approached them on the street. He was considering his options when, just after she passed the opening to an alley, a man stepped out of the shadows and grabbed the girl. She only managed to utter a frightened yelp before his hand clamped down on her mouth. The attacker’s back was to Giles, so the librarian’s attack was completely unexpected.

Giles hit the man with all his strength, causing him to stagger forward and loosen his hold on the girl. She attempted to flee, but was grabbed by the arm and shoved roughly into the alley, followed quickly by her assailant. Giles ran after them only to find himself face-to-face with a very angry vampire. Stumbling backwards in surprise, Giles narrowly avoided getting punched and quickly withdrew a cross from his pocket. The vampire hissed when confronted with the holy symbol.

"She is for the Master." he growled, lunging quickly. Giles easily avoided him and cursed himself mentally for not having brought a stake. He continued to dodge the vampire’s advances as he tried to think of a way out of this mess, when the vampire suddenly feinted to the left. As he reacted, Giles realized that he had made the wrong move, but it was too late. He found himself with his arms pinned securely behind his back and a vampire’s teeth headed straight for his jugular.

******

Willow had seen Xander leave with the blonde and had been both angry and hurt. Xander had been pressuring her for months to go to the Bronze with him and Jessie, and she had finally caved and agreed to do it if he wrote her a short story. With his imagination, Xander was actually quite a talented writer, but all his stories were about guys in the army or in space battles. Willow wanted a story just for her. Today, Xander had provided the goods, so she had agreed to go to the night-club. Jessie had disappeared soon after their arrival, then Xander had abandoned her to dance with the bimbo. She had watched him leave the club without so much as a backwards glance. At that point, Willow had given up the evening for lost and decided to go home.

She had been walking along, brooding over the insensitivity of one Xander Harris, when somebody had suddenly grabbed her from behind. She only managed a short scream before a hand dropped over her mouth, preventing further sound. Then, something had hit her unseen foe from behind and he had released her. Willow had tried to run away, but someone had grabbed her arm and shoved her into the alley, causing her to lose her balance and fall on her knees. As she regained her footing, she heard someone hiss that she was meant for the Master and had turned around just in time to see a stranger try to punch out the new librarian. For some reason, Rupert Giles was waving a cross in the air and, what was stranger, it seemed to be having some sort of adverse effect on his opponent. Willow nearly cried out when Giles’ arms were pinned and when she saw the stranger grab his head and pull it to the side, she acted on pure instinct. With a running start, she leapt and grabbed hold of the strange man’s shoulders, pulling him backwards.

****

Giles felt the vampire stumble and used this to his advantage. Bracing his feet, he pushed as hard as he could, causing his adversary to lose his balance. As the vampire fell, he released the Watcher’s arms and Giles quickly picked up a piece of what once must have been a wooden box. He turned just in time to see the vampire’s attempt to stand thwarted by two small hands clinging to his shoulders. Giles knelt beside his mortal enemy and plunged the plank into his heart. The vampire exploded into ash so quickly, that Giles barely avoided sticking his makeshift stake into Willow Rosenberg’s chest.

****

<Vanished! He just went "poof"!> Willow was so shocked at this turn of events that it took her a moment to register that there was a very sharp piece of wood poised an inch above her chest. She stared in mute terror at the man who, up until a few minutes ago, she had thought was a very nice, if somewhat strange, librarian.

Giles stared into Willow’s huge eyes, wondering how in Hell he was going to explain this to her, when he realized that she was holding her breath. Remembering that he still had a stake poised over her heart, Giles quickly moved backwards, allowing her some maneuvering room. He held on to the stick though, on the off chance that the vampire hadn’t been alone.

"Are you all right?" he panted. He was breathing heavily as a result of the fight.

"I....I think so." she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "What....what was that?"

"It’s not safe out here." Giles said, appearing to ignore her question. "Let’s get inside." Willow nodded and he breathed an internal sigh of relief. Most people, when confronted with vampires or other evidence of the supernatural, had a tendency to sort of "forget" about it. He would take Willow to the library and, hopefully, all she would remember was that she had been attacked, thus sparing him the necessity of having to explain things to her. He quickly ushered her to his car and they drove back to the school in silence.

When they finally reached the library, Willow surprised Giles by turning towards him and looking him directly in the eye.

"What is going on?" she asked, barely keeping her voice from trembling. "Why did you stick that guy in the chest with a stick..... and why did he just vanish?"

Giles mentally cursed when he realized that he was going to have to tell her at least some of what of what was happening. "I hit him with the stake because that is what one does to kill vampires." he said bluntly. "He exploded into a cloud of ash because that is what vampires do when they are killed. Although," he paused in thought for a moment "they usually don’t do it that quickly. He must have been quite young."

"Vampire? That was a *vampire*?" Willow squeaked.

"Yes." Giles sighed. "Vampires are more than just creatures of myth and legend, Willow. They are real and they pose a real threat to the mortal realm." He braced himself for the typical reaction to this news–denial, accusations of insanity or, in some extreme cases, complete repression of any memory involving him or the vampires. Willow did none of these things. She slowly sank into a chair and continued to stare at him. Giles wondered what was going on in her brain and was surprised when she spoke in quiet tones.

"Okay.... so vampires exist.... why are they here? And why was he after me?" She was obviously terrified, but Giles admired her composure and her ability to at least appear strong in the face of danger.

"I have no idea why they’re here, though to be honest, you’ll find vampires just about anywhere you go." He sat down across the table from her. "As for why that one was after you, I suspect he was looking for a late night snack." He grinned mirthlessly, but she didn’t seem to see the humor in the situation.

"But I heard him say something about ‘The Master.’" Giles stared at her in shock. In all the fuss, he had completely forgotten about that.

"You’re right. Dammit!" Willow’s eyes got wider, if that were possible, but she didn’t say anything. "That does put a new spin on things." They sat in silence for a moment, until Willow plucked up the courage to ask her next question.

"How.... how did you know?"

"Know what?" Giles was still distracted by thoughts of the mysterious Master.

"How did you know what to do? I mean, you weren’t scared or anything, you just....." Willow mimed thrusting a stake into her chest.

"I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that." Giles growled, more angry at himself than her.

"I... I’m sorry." She seemed to shrink back into her chair, as if she was trying to make herself as small as possible.

"Don’t be." Giles hastened to reassure her. "It’s a reasonable question." He took a deep breath. "I’ve known about vampires my entire life. It’s something of a job requirement." She opened her mouth, but he continued before she could ask the obvious question. "I’m a Watcher. I was sent here to train the Slayer." This time, Willow didn’t even open her mouth, she just arched her eyebrow and gestured for him to continue. He thought for a moment, then said "It will be easier for me to explain this to you the way it was explained to me." Taking on the sing-song voice of one who has memorized lines and repeated them on numerous times, he said "As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, to find them where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer." He continued in his normal voice. "A Slayer is born with the potential for added strength and agility and is given over to a Watcher for instruction. When a Watcher or Slayer dies, another one is called to take their place. At that point, their potential gifts are realized. This Slayer was called a year ago. Her last Watcher died in December and I was sent to replace him."

Willow stuck her tongue through her teeth and stared at her hands for a minute. Giles was soon to learn that this was her "thoughtful" pose. Finally, she spoke. "You sere sent here to watch the Slayer.....so, where is she?"

"I wish I knew." Giles sighed. "She was supposed to start school here today, but I haven’t seen her. That’s why I was at that nightclub in the first place." he hastened to explain, not remembering that Willow hadn’t actually seen him there. "I was trying to see if she might have gone there."

"What does she look like?" Willow asked. "Maybe I saw her." Giles mentally kicked himself for not having thought of this possibility, then fetched a folder from his office. He opened it and pulled out a 8" x 10" glossy photograph of Buffy Summers. Willow briefly examined the picture and sadly shook her head.

"Sorry. I didn’t see her." Giles sighed and sat down heavily. "She’s pretty, though. How old is she?"

"Fifteen. Her sixteenth birthday is in just a few days."

"She’s so young!" Willow gasped. "You said that Slayers gets trained by a Watcher.....how old is she when that starts?"

"She is usually given to her Watcher when she is only a few days old."

"Usually?"

Giles saw no reason to hide the truth from Willow. "In the case of this Slayer the Watchers didn’t know of her existence until she was Called when the previous Slayer died. We sent a Watcher by the name of Merrick–who was considered a specialist in dealing with teenagers who have recently learned of their destinies--to train her but he...."

"Died." Willow was practically shaking. "That word has come up an awful lot in this conversation."

"Unfortunately, my line of work has a very high mortality rate."

"Could that be what happened to her? Could she have died?"

"Not without our knowing about it." Giles began to pace. "After Merrick died, I was supposed to go meet Buffy in Los Angeles...."

"Wait a minute." Willow couldn’t help laughing. "The Slayer’s name is *Buffy*?" Giles chuckled, but decided not to tell Willow about the jokes that had floated around the Watchers’ Council for months upon learning this bit of information.

"Anyway, we found out that Buffy’s parents were divorcing and that she and her mother were going to move here. Since Buffy almost single-handedly wiped out her neighborhood’s vampire population, we figured she couldn’t get into too much trouble if we left her alone for a month.. Obviously," he said, shaking his head "we were wrong."

"Well, do you know if she and her mom moved here?"

"No, I don’t. I tried directory assistance and... what are you doing?" Willow had jumped up and was now in the process of fiddling with the computer in the corner.

"I’m going to do some searching on the Internet. Maybe we can find her that way."

"You can do that?" Giles asked as he came to stand behind her. Willow was impatiently drumming her fingers on the table while she waited for the computer to finish its start-up process.

"Sure." Willow replied. "I can check phone records, bank records....."

"Just a minute." Suspicion was evident in his voice. "Aren’t those records confidential?"

"Uh...yes." Willow blushed and lowered her head.

"So, this is technically illegal."

"You could say that, yes." With a sigh, Willow turned around. "So much for that idea."

"Oh! I wasn’t trying to discourage you." Giles said, quickly. At Willow’s look of surprise he shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanted clarification."

"Let me get this straight." Willow stared at Giles, looking for any sign of sarcasm in his demeanor. "I have just told you that I am going to do something that is against the law and you.... the adult, the responsible one.... you are okay with this?"

"Willow, you have to understand something. In our fight against vampires and other non-human creatures, Watchers and Slayers have to break laws on a fairly regular basis. We have to trespass, steal, and even commit murder." Willow’s eyes grew wide at that last statement, but Giles went on. "In our efforts to protect the human race we usually have to ignore the rules that govern us. The important thing is to know what those rules are."

"So you don’t get caught?"

"Exactly." They shared a conspiratorial smile and Willow turned back to the computer. She quickly typed a few commands and the screen began to shift. She was soon absorbed in her search and after a few minutes of watching her, Giles decided to consult his books for references on "The Master." Silence reigned in the library for the next hour as Willow and Giles each engaged in their own research.

"Mr. Giles?" Giles started at this name.

"You might as well call me Giles." he said. "Everyone else does."

"Oh. Okay. Well, Giles, I have some bad news for you."

"What?" he asked, bracing himself for the worst.

"Mrs. Summers never left Los Angeles."

"What? Why not?"

"I’m not sure. All I can figure out is that she bought a house here and rented space for some kind of business. She had appointments to turn off all her utilities, but last week, all of a sudden, she canceled all of them. She’s also canceled her lease on the commercial property and is trying to sell her new house."

"This is not a good sign." Giles grumbled. "Do you know why she terminated her move so suddenly?"

"No." Willow sat in thought for a moment. "What would make her want to stay in L. A.?" She began to tick off possibilities on her fingers. "She and Buffy’s father might have worked things out."

"The Watchers’ Council would have known about it." Giles said.

"There’s a Council? Never mind." Willow got back to her points. "Either she or Buffy could have gotten hurt or sick, or maybe someone in their family?"

"That’s a possibility." Giles conceded. "Can you check the hospitals?" Willow nodded. "Also check the police records, if you can."

"Why?"

"Buffy was expelled from her previous school for burning down the gym." Giles explained. At Willow’s look of shock, he hastened to add "There were vampires in it at the time. Anyway, she may have gotten into trouble for that or something else."

"Oh. Okay." Willow went back to her work and Giles went back to his. Another hour passed and this time, it was Giles who had news. Willow’s first indication of his recent acquisition of pertinent knowledge was when he threw a book across the room and began to curse violently.

"What is it? What’s wrong?" Willow said, frightened out of his wits by his outburst. Giles had completely forgotten her presence and was immediately embarrassed by his outburst.

"I’m sorry.... it’s just that I found out who the Master is." He ran his fingers through his hair and slowly walked to pick up the discarded book.

"Well, don’t leave me in suspense."

"He’s a very powerful vampire who was bound hundreds of years ago. He exists in a separate dimension–one that borders on our own–and has repeatedly attempted to cross the barrier between his world and ours." As he examined the book for damage, Giles continued to speak. "He has been, thankfully, unsuccessful so far."

"So far?" Willow made a face. "I don’t like the sound of that."

Giles held up the book in his hand. "This says that he needs to be on a Hellmouth to open the portal–and before you ask, I’m not quite sure what a Hellmouth is. From what I can gather, it’s a magnet for evil. Anyway, the Master intends to open the Hellmouth, thus releasing him to plague the Earth. He’s spent the last god-knows how many years looking for one and he may have found it."

"Here? In Sunnydale?" Giles nodded grimly. "Can we stop him?" Willow was now well and truly frightened.

"I don’t know." Giles sighed. "I have to do more research." Just then, the computer made a noise and Willow turned to look at the screen.

"Oh no." she whispered.

"Now what?" Giles was getting tired of the bad news.

"Eight days ago, Buffy Summers’ mother called the police and reported that her daughter was missing. She ran away from home." Giles almost threw the book again, but thought better of it. He did, however, indulge in a quiet, yet lengthy, swearing session. When he finally got himself under control, he happened to take a look at the clock that hung above the doors.

"Willow, it’s nearly midnight! Your parents must be frantic."

"Oh, they’re not home." she said carelessly.

"What?" <What kind of parents leave a 15 year old girl home alone?> "What about your friends?"

Willow snorted in disgust. "The way Xander was going after that blonde at the Bronze, I don’t think he’ll be thinking about me for quite a while."

"What about that other boy.....uh....Jessie, was it?"

"Yes. All he worries about is getting Cordelia Chase to go out with him." she grinned.

"I don’t believe I met Miss Chase." Giles was only paying a minimal amount of attention to the conversation, his brain occupied with the twin problems of the Master and the missing Slayer.

"Believe me, you would remember if you had." Willow snickered. She stared thoughtfully at the computer screen for a moment, then began typing furiously.

"What are you doing now?" Giles asked.

"I’m going to see what I can dig up on this Hellmouth thing." she murmured, already absorbed in her task.

"I highly doubt you’ll find anything" Giles scoffed. She smirked at him.

"You can find information on just about anything on-line." she said, then focused on the computer. Giles shook his head and went into the stacks. If she wanted to waste her time on that... that.... thing, that was fine with him. It left him free to pursue more productive avenues. He was still leafing through volumes, no closer to finding what he was looking for, two hours later when a strange sound began to come from Willow’s direction.

"What is that noise?" he complained.

"Your printer." she replied. "Sounds like you need a new one." With that, she grabbed some papers from the offending machine and handed them to him. Giles was stunned when he found himself reading three highly detailed descriptions of a Hellmouth.

"Where did you find this?" he gasped.

"There are several encyclopedias of the occult on-line. None of them had what I wanted, but they linked to different sites that did. I bookmarked them for you." she added.

"Bookmarked?"

"I’ll explain later." she sighed. "For now, the important thing is that I found what you were looking for. What next?"

"I take you home and you forget that any of this ever happened." he said, sternly. He stood up and was almost to the door when he realized that she wasn’t following him. "Willow?" he turned around and saw her, still seated, with the strangest expression on her face.

"I’m not going anywhere." she said quietly. "We still have a lot to do."

"Wrong." Giles spoke in his sternest tones. "*I* have a lot to do. You have to get some sleep. You have school in the morning."

"I don’t sleep much. Anyway, I want to stay and help."

"I appreciate your.... enthusiasm." he sighed. "But, this is not a game."

"I know that." she interrupted. "But you can’t do this alone...."

"I have to." he snapped. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but her naivete was dangerous. "I cannot put you in danger."

"You’re not putting me in anything." she pointed out in an annoyingly reasonable tone. "I’m volunteering." Before he could interrupt, she continued. "Look, I know that I probably have no idea what I’m getting myself into, but I know that I can be a help looking up stuff...."

"What about the fighting?" he asked, thinking he had her. "There’s a lot of it and it won’t be as easy as tonight."

"We did all right."

"We were lucky." he pointed out.

"So, you just want to go out and fight the vampires all by yourself?"

"At least until the Slayer gets here."

"And what if you die before she does?" Giles was about to respond, then took a minute to really think about her question. He hadn’t considered that possibility and Willow obviously saw this on his face. "You were going to train her, right?" He nodded warily. "So, train me.... at least until she shows up."

"Impossible." he spluttered.

"Why?"

"You don’t have the Slayer’s strength or agility...."

"So? Do you?"

"Well.... no." he admitted.

"So how is that a problem? You staked a vampire earlier without the Slayer superpowers."

"Yes, but as I said, that was extraordinarily easy."

"Which brings me back to my point that if you go out there alone, you could die before Buffy turns up. Or are you just planning on not fighting at all?" she challenged him.

"Of course I’m planning on fighting. I don’t want anyone to get hurt...."

"Neither do I. So train me so I can help you." Giles opened his mouth to protest, then shut it again.

"You’re not going to let this drop, are you?" he sighed.

"Nope." She smiled a bit. "See this face? Xander calls this my ‘Resolve Face.’ It means that once I’ve made up my mind I can’t be budged."

Giles considered his options. On the one hand, he could take her home right now and try to convince her to let this go. However, he suspected that this would be impossible. She wanted to help very badly and if he didn’t agree to train her, she might try to stop the vampires on her own. Worse, she might get her little friends involved. On the other hand, he could let her into his world–after all, she did have several valid points. Also, while he would never admit it out loud, her computer skills could come in handy. Finally, it would be nice to have someone to share the burden.... at least until the Slayer showed up. "All right." Giles said, finally. "We’ll start tomorrow."

"I told you I don’t need much sleep." she protested.

"But I do." She grinned sheepishly, her former bashfulness completely gone.

"Sorry." She gathered her things and joined him. "Lay on, MacDuff."

"I’m impressed." he said as he opened the door. "Most people usually get it wrong."

"I know! It’s so irritating." Their laughter echoed down the hallway as they left the building.

*******

November, 1998

"That’s how we met." Willow smiled fondly at the memory. "The next day, Rupert started to train me." The expression on her face made it evident that this memory wasn’t quite so nice.

"Hard, huh?" Cordelia was absolutely riveted by the story.

"You have no idea." Willow sighed. "It took him a really long time to get used to the fact that I don’t have Slayer skills or strength... or super healing powers. He cracked a couple of my ribs and almost broke my arm a few times."

"Ouch!" Cordelia knew, from her own self-defense classes with the Watcher, that he never went easy on his pupils.

"Never fear, I got in a couple of good shots myself." Willow snickered. "Anyway, we got really lucky when we went up against the Master’s minions the first time."

"The Harvest?" Cordelia based her guess on her memories of the night the vampire hordes had attacked the Bronze.

"Yes. We set fire to the building." A shadow came over Willow’s face. "A lot of people died that night... including Jesse. We tried, but we couldn’t get them all out....." She bowed her head for a moment, then raised it again. "But the Master’s chosen one died that night too. That bought us some time."

"When did Xander get bitten?" Cordelia told herself that she was only asking out of curiosity.

"The night that Rupert and I met." Willow’s eyes were hard and cold now. "I didn’t know that, of course. His body was never found. He started coming after me a week later."

******

January, 1997

Willow was almost frantic. She had purposefully been avoiding Xander and Jesse, still angry about their behavior at the club, but also worried that she might spill the beans about her new "extracurricular" activities. Then had come that terrible night at the Bronze where Jesse had died. After that, Willow had felt an incredible need to find Xander and grieve with him. But, she hadn’t been able to find him anywhere and his parents weren’t answering the phone. She had voiced her concerns to Giles who held the opinion that the boy had fallen off his skateboard one time too many and was lying in a hospital somewhere. This had done absolutely nothing to relieve her anxiety. Willow then searched the hospital databases, but could find no trace of him. She also searched police files but, other than the deaths from the fire at the Bronze, could find no records of violent crimes or missing persons within the specified time.

She was standing in her kitchen, contemplating her next move when a soft tapping came on her back door. Her parents were out of town again, but Giles had told her that she was safe because vampires couldn’t enter someone’s home without an explicit invitation. She opened the door, but was careful to stay well inside the threshold.

"Xander!" she gasped. "Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!"

"Hey, Will." Willow immediately noticed the difference in his appearance. Instead of his usual loud print shirts, he was wearing a plain white t-shirt and..... were those *leather* pants? His face looked strange too.... harder, meaner. Willow was so happy to see him, though, that she didn’t care. She simply stared at him for a moment, until he arched an eyebrow.

"Uh, aren’t you going to invite me in?" he asked.

"Oh!" Willow smacked her forehead, realizing she was standing in front of the doorway. "Sorry." She stepped to one side and motioned for him to enter. But, he didn’t.

"What’s wrong?" she asked.

"Hey! Nothing’s wrong." he chuckled.

"Then why aren’t you coming in?" Willow was starting to get nervous.

"Why don’t you invite me?"

"What?" Willow laughed. "You’ve never needed an invitation before. In fact," she said, considering the matter for a second, "you usually don’t even knock."

"Well, this time it’s different." he said. Willow could hear the note of impatience in his voice. "Invite me in, Willow."

"Why?" This time there was no humor in her voice. "Why can’t you just come in."

"Because this time is, well, special."

"Special? How?" A nagging suspicion was beginning to form in the back of Willow’s mind.

"I want to talk..... about us." Xander’s voice had taken on a strange, seductive tone that Willow had never heard before. Had she been less insecure, she might have fallen for it.

"Uh... listen, Xander. I’m really tired. Can we talk tomorrow?" <If he really is plain, old Xander, he should be okay with that....>

"It has to be now, Willow."

"I can’t. Not right now."

"It’s now or never." Willow knew that something was definitely wrong. Keeping an eye on him, she slowly extended her hand until it almost, but not quite, crossed the threshold. Xander fell for the ploy and made a grab for her. She jerked back and watched in horror as his hand bounced off the invisible shield. She backed away, slowly, as the face of her best friend suddenly shifted. Willow had seen vampires shift into demon form a few times, but had never imagined in her wildest dreams how awful it could be.

"Let me in, Willow." the demon that once was Xander Harris ordered.

"No!" Willow started to cry. She ran to the door and slammed it in his face.

*****

Giles was at home enjoying a cup of tea when the phone rang. Hoping that it wasn’t the Watcher’s Council, who still had not been informed about Buffy Summers’ disappearance, Giles let the answering machine (which Willow had programmed for him) pick it up.

"Giles? Are you there?" It was Willow and she was sobbing hysterically. Giles grabbed the phone, nearly spilling his tea in the process.

"Willow? What’s wrong?"

"It’s Xander. He - he’s one of the-them!"

"Slow down. One of who?"

"The vampires. Giles, Xander’s a vampire." Giles did spill his tea then and yelled in pain. "Giles?" Willow highly doubted that the Watcher was yelling about Xander.

"Sorry, sorry. I just spilled tea—never mind. Now, what’s this about Xander being a vampire? Are you sure?"

"Pointy teeth, yellow eyes, I’m sure."

"Oh God, Willow. Where are you?"

"At home. He... he came over and he looked different....then he wanted me to invite him inside...."

"Please tell me you didn’t....."

"I didn’t." she hastened to reassure him.

"So what happened?"

"I started to get suspicious so I... I put my hand up to the door. He tried to grab me but...but.....he bounced!" She was sobbing again. Giles spent the next few minutes trying to calm her down.

"Willow, listen to me. Are your parents home?"

"N.... no." she sniffed.

"All right." Giles breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you know if he’s still outside?"

"I was too scared to look, but if you want me to......"

"No!" Giles nearly shouted. "He’s probably gone to tell his Sire that you know the truth about vampires."

"I’m sorry." she whispered. "I didn’t mean...."

"It’s all right." he sighed. "It was inevitable, really. I just wish we had more time to hone your fighting skills......"

"Why did he come after me?" she asked, timidly "Was he angry at me?"

"Yes and no." Giles took a moment to find the right words "When Xander lost his soul, he lost everything that made him human and the demon that now inhabits his body wants to get rid of anything that might remind him of what he once was. You two were close, I take it....."

"We’ve been best friends since the third grade."

"Then you are one of the demon’s primary targets.... along with Xander’s family..... Good Lord, did you call them?"

"I’ve been trying to get a hold of them for the past three days. Nobody’s picking up the phone."

"Listen to me, Willow. Tomorrow, you are going to have get into Xander’s house. Can you do that without anyone seeing you?"

"Sure, but I don’t see the need for secrecy. All of Xander’s neighbors know me and have seen me go in and out of his house lots of times."

"Good. Willow, I don’t know how to tell you this, but...... it’s very likely you’ll find Xander’s parents, but...."

"They’ll be dead." Willow had stopped crying and her voice had become strangely flat.

"Yes." Giles decided not to dwell on the possibilities. "Can you get over there before school?"

"Yes. I’ll meet you in the library during third period."

"Be careful." he warned.

"I will." she assured him. "If I do find Xander’s parents.... should I call the police?"

Giles thought about this for a moment. "Are you sure that your presence in the house won’t be considered suspicious?"

"I go in and out of there all the time, even when nobody’s house. Everyone knows that."

"All right then, until tomorrow....." before he could say goodbye, she interrupted him.

"But what about Xander? Isn’t there something we can do to help him?"

"Willow, Xander Harris is, for all intents and purposes, dead. His body may still be walking the earth, but nothing exists of the boy you once knew. There’s nothing we can do to bring him back." She was crying again, softly. Giles truly felt bad about having to say these things, but the sooner she truly understood what had happened, the better. I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to accept this."

"I know." she said, quietly. "But I’m damn well going to make them pay." Without another word, she hung up, leaving Giles to ponder her last statement.

*******

When Giles entered the library after watching second period study hall, he was surprised not to see Willow already at the computer or with her nose in a book. Ever since she had joined him in his fight against the forces of evil, she had spent every waking minute not taken up with school, filial duties, or sleep in the library, doing research both for him and for herself. In the past two weeks, Willow Rosenberg had learned more about vampires, witches, werewolves, and other assorted supernatural creatures than most people learned in a lifetime. At first, Giles reveled in the silence, knowing that it would be gone the instant Willow came in with her news about Xander’s parents. Then, he heard a strange noise coming from the stacks. <Someone’s crying?> At first, Giles assumed that it was some student who had come into the library for privacy while they grieved over some teenage hardship, but there was something about the sound that was familiar....

She was curled up in a little ball in the furthest corner of the library stacks. Her head was buried in her arms and her hair formed a curtain which protected her from the outside world. Giles knelt beside her and gently touched her shoulder. She flinched, but he kept his hand in place until she finally looked at him. Her eyes were red and nearly swollen shut and held an expression of absolute horror.

"Willow? What happened?" He had a pretty good idea.

"I found them..... Giles... he... he...." she trailed off as the tears started to flow again.

"Let me guess." Giles said, wearily. "He killed them.....?"

"He slaughtered them." she whispered. "I mean, literally. There were body parts all over the house." Giles sucked air in between his teeth, but said nothing. "I mean, I knew that they were probably not going to be alive, but I didn’t expect.... well, I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t *that*."

"What did the police say?" Giles asked gently.

"They... they said that they couldn’t be sure, but by the way the blood was spread out, Xander’s parents were probably still alive when he... he...." Willow made a strange, retching sound and for a minute, Giles was afraid that she was going to lose her breakfast then and there. With an effort, Willow got herself under control.

"I see." Giles was in shock. "This is very bad."

"You think?" Willow used her most sarcastic tone of voice.

"Well, of course it’s terrible that Xander’s parents are dead." Giles said quickly "But what I meant is that most fledgling vampires take a while to reach such... heights... of cruelty. Xander will probably soon be one of the more powerful vampires in the area."

"How do you do that?" Willow looked at him with wonder.

"Do what?"

"How do you....." she searched for words. "How do you.... cope with this kind of stuff?"

"I drink." he said, matter-of-factly. Willow looked at him askance for a moment, then began to giggle. "What’s so funny?"

"I just realized that here we are.... me a basket-case and you a closet lush. Oooo! The vampires better beware!" Giles stared at her for a minute, then began to laugh right along with her.

"We’ll just have to deal with this the best we can." he said, after they had calmed down a bit. "Whatever it takes, right?" he held his hand up, palm out. She looked at him confused. "Sorry, I forgot that this isn’t a common gesture. It’s kind of an unofficial ‘secret handshake’ between me and some of my friends in the Council. When things get really dire, we do this" he took her hand and placed it, palm to palm, with his own. "Whatever it takes, right?"

"Right." she grinned at him.

******

Willow sat in a chair, waiting anxiously for Giles to come out of his office. It was lunch and he had finally decided to call the Watchers’ Council to inform them that Buffy Summers was Missing In Action. The conversation had lasted a good half-hour so far and Willow was starting to get nervous. Just as she wondered whether or not he would finish before she had to go to Geometry, Giles hung up the phone and slowly walked out.

"I take it things didn’t go well?" she asked, quietly.

"You could say that." Giles sighed as he slumped in the chair across the table from her. "You could also say that things went dreadfully and that the Council wants my head on a silver platter." Willow winced.

"Ouch! What do they want you to do now?"

"They want me to remain in Sunnydale and continue my search for the Slayer from this location."

"What did they say about the Master and the Hellmouth and all that?"

"To tell you the truth, they were more than a bit skeptical." Giles removed his glasses and absent-mindedly began to clean them. "The book I found the reference in is considered to be unreliable, at best, and pure drivel at worst. As for the information you found on the ethernet...."

"Internet." she automatically corrected him.

"Yes, well, let’s just say that my colleagues are somewhat biased against any information that cannot be found between the covers of a book that is at least 200 years old. Basically, they told me to stop piddling around with nonsense and concentrate on finding the Slayer."

"That’s just great." Willow grumbled. "We have a Council that is dedicated to the destruction of all vampires and other supernatural evil, and they won’t help because they don’t believe us?"

"That about sums it up."

Willow began to fidget a little bit uncomfortably. "Did you.... did you tell them about me?"

"No." Giles answered, deciding that honesty really was the best policy. "There are certain members of the Society who would like to see my head mounted on the nearest stake...."

".... and telling them that you’re getting help from some random teenager would give them just the ammunition they need." Willow grimaced at the thought.

"Exactly." They sat in silence for a minute, then Willow looked at her watch and began to quickly gather her things.

"I’ve got to go!" she informed him. "Geometry awaits."

"Right then." Giles stood up "I’ll see you after school?"

"With bells on!" Willow called out as she hurried through the doors. Giles smirked, then went into the stacks to begin searching for more information on the Master.

*******

November, 1998

"So, anyway," Willow said, standing up to stretch her legs "Rupert and I became a team....you know, partners in crime and all that. You want some popcorn?"

"Sure." Cordelia replied, suddenly realizing that her legs were falling asleep. Her mind was awhirl with questions, and she asked the first one that came to mind. "So how did Larry and Oz get involved in this?" She joined Willow in the kitchen and put the kettle on to boil more water for the tea.

"Well, when Xander died......"

"But he didn’t die!" Cordelia protested "Or does that come later in the story?"

"No." Willow spoke softly. "The demon that looks like Xander Harris is still wandering the streets of Sunnydale. But you have to understand something, Cordelia. There is absolutely *nothing* left of the boy I used to know. I have to act as if he is dead..... otherwise I won’t be able to survive a fight with him."

"God, Will. That’s so harsh."

Willow smiled sadly. "Nobody’s called me Will in a really long time."

"It’s just something I picked up from Xander.... oh, sorry."

"That’s okay." Willow shrugged. "Now, what was your question?"

"How did Oz and Larry get involved in the Scooby Gang?" Cordelia prompted.

"Scooby Gang?" Willow looked puzzled.

"Oh, sorry. That’s what we call ourselves.... well, actually, that’s what Xander calls us. Willow calls us ‘Slayerettes’."

"I like it." Willow chuckled. "Well, anyway, when Xander died, Larry became my lab partner in Biology. I ended up tutoring him and we became friends. One night, he accidentally witnessed Rupert staking a vampire. He didn’t ‘forget’ like everyone else around here used to do, so we brought him on board. Later, he introduced us to Oz, who was having this problem with full moons."

"Oh!" Cordelia exclaimed "Is your Oz a werewolf too?"

Willow’s eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah!" After a moment of thought, she said "I guess not everything changed in the Slayer’s absence." They stood in silence for a few minutes waiting for the popcorn to pop and the kettle to boil. Cordelia noted that Giles didn’t seem to have a microwave, but chose not to comment.

"This is taking forever." she grumbled.

"You’re right." Willow held her hand over the kettle and murmured a few words. Suddenly, it began to whistle, indicating that the water inside was boiling.

"How did you do that?" Cordelia marveled.

"Magic." Willow shrugged. "Is your Willow a witch?"

"Yeah, sort of. She can’t do that, though." Cordelia clearly remembered assisting with the Rom curse. "She did restore a vampire’s soul, once."

"Really?" Willow was fascinated. "What happened?" Cordelia gave her a brief summary of the whole Angel/Angelus thing.

"Ooo! Jenny told us about Angel." Willow poured the popcorn into a bowl and put the popper into the sink.

"Jenny Calendar?" When Willow nodded, Cordelia felt a mixture of excitement and dread. "Is she here.... alive, I mean?"

"No." Willow bowed her head for a minute. "She died in April of 1997. Xander and some of his cronies attacked the library and she was killed."

"Oh. I’m sorry. Were you close?"

"Yeah." Willow smiled at her memories. "She’s the one who taught me about magic."

"I bet Giles freaked about that.... what with him raising the demon and all that."

"Oh yeah." Willow rolled her eyes. "Fortunately–or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it–he sort of didn’t have a choice in the matter. I pointed out to him that we need every edge we can get in the fight against evil."

"Cool."

*****

October, 1997

"Damn!" Willow swore under her breath as the computer flashed an error message for the fourth time in as many minutes. Honesty forced her to admit that she was having problems because she wasn’t really paying attention. Her mind kept wandering off in the direction of a certain librarian.... Glancing at her watch, she cursed again. It was after four in the morning. She hadn’t meant to stay there all night, but she had become totally immersed in her research. Her parents were out of town again, so she knew her presence wouldn’t be missed Over the past nine months she had trained with him every day, for at least two hours a day and participated in more than one fight, but there had been no good reason to foolishly invite danger.

Willow sighed, knowing that she wasn’t going to get any more work done that night. Shutting down the computer, she rose and began to collect her things. As she exited the library, she felt the strange tingling on the back of her neck that warned her of impending danger. Willow had learned to trust this instinct, as it had saved her life on more than one occasion. She continued to walk, all the while extending her senses in an attempt to discover the source of her apprehension. She no longer felt the paralyzing rush of fear that had once overcome her at the prospect of a fight, merely a surge of adrenaline. She caught the slightest waft of air coming from behind her and, without warning, pivoted and punched her unseen assailant in the jaw. Quickly scanning the hallway to assure herself that there was only one, she focused her attention on the target and gasped when she recognized him–Xander.

<Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!> Willow had fought vampires by herself before (once, she had even managed to dust two while Giles was in the men’s room) but in all her time acting as the "Pseudo-Slayer," she had yet to come up against her former best friend without the aid and assistance of the Watcher. In the past nine months, Xander had quickly made a reputation for himself in the vampire community. He and others had attacked the library several times, but Giles had always been there (and so had Larry and Oz, usually.) Willow had never had to face him on her own.

"Hey Will!" Xander lunged for her suddenly. Willow managed to dodge, and kicked out at him, hitting him in the hip. "That’s not very nice." he chided, grabbing her arm and swinging her around. He let go, and the force of the throw, sent her crashing into the lockers.

"Gee, so sorry." she said, recovering quickly. "I do so hate to be rude." She grabbed a stake that was stuck through a belt loop and lunged. He grabbed her arm, grinning, but his expression turned to one of agony when she kneed him in the balls. "Guys are so predictable." she muttered, using his momentary distraction to get away from him.

"You’ll pay for that!" he growled. He pulled a large knife from his belt. Willow took one look and bolted for the outer doors. She had some experience with hand to hand combat, but she had never fought an armed opponent before. She was almost at her goal before Xander grabbed her arm and slammed her up against the wall. He held his face very close to hers and slowly, even casually, drew the knife in a line from her temple down to her mouth. Willow only barely managed not to scream, but nearly lost her cool when he leaned in to lick at the blood spilling down her face. Instead of feeding his pleasure with her cries of pain, she bit his ear. Xander yelped and she pushed him away with all the strength in her body and ran down the hallway until she came to a door.

Willow pushed open the swinging door, having no idea where she was. Wiping blood from her eye, she discovered that she had ended up in one of the first floor bathrooms--one with a window. Gasping in relief, she grabbed the sash and pulled it up–or tried to anyway. The window stayed stubbornly closed. Sobbing frantically, Willow put all her weight into pushing it open, but to no avail. She could hear Xander coming and, as a last desperate measure, she grabbed the trash can and smashed it against the glass. This had little effect and Willow mentally cursed a school that felt the need for shatter proof glass. Just then the door flew open and Willow turned just in time to see Xander bounce off of an invisible barrier. Snarling, he tried to enter the room again, but again was thrown back. Willow was just as baffled as the vampire, until she caught sight of the sign on the outside of the door and began to laugh hysterically.

"This is the girls’ room, Xander." she chortled. "No boys allowed." Nevertheless, she stayed near the far wall. A detached part of her brain made a note to inform Giles of this new and interesting addition to the list of places where vampires (at least some of them) couldn’t go.

"Come on, Willow." Xander growled. "You’re trying my patience. Be a good girl and come out now. It will be quick, I promise. You’ll go to sleep and when you wake up, you’ll be a god."

"Modest, aren’t we?" Now that she was beginning to recover her breath, Willow slowly walked to the sink and touched the faucet. Murmuring a few words over it, she ensured that, should Xander somehow find a way into the room, she would have an endless supply of holy water.

"Merely stating the truth." Xander shrugged. "Now that the Master’s free, we’re going to run this town." A shiver ran down Willow’s back at this statement.

"The Master isn’t free." she said, as she grabbed some paper towels. Running them under the faucet for a moment, she gingerly pressed them against her cut cheek in an effort to stop the bleeding.

"Oh, but he is." Something in Xander’s voice led Willow to believe that he was telling the truth. "He wants you, Willow. He’s been watching you and, much as it pains me to admit it, he’s impressed. He thinks you’d make an excellent addition to our ranks."

"I’d rather die." Willow winced at both the triteness of her statement and the pain in her face.

"Suit yourself." Xander laughed softly. "Now, you just stay here while I go fetch one of my female counterparts. This will all be over soon, Willow."

Willow glanced at her watch. "I highly doubt it." she said, and were it not for the pain it would have caused her, she would have grinned. "You’ve only got about an hour before sunrise and, unless your lady friend is right outside, you don’t have time on your side." Xander snarled as he realized the truth of her words.

"Until next time, then." he grumbled. With that, he turned on his heel and stalked away. Willow spent the next hour alternately tending to her face and filling paper cups with holy water in case .Xander’s friend really was right outside. Luckily, her hunch that he had come alone turned out to be accurate. When she saw the first light streak the horizon, Willow bolted from her place of safety. It was a Saturday, so there was nobody out on the streets at this early hour. Therefore, Willow was the only one to see the strange shimmering in the sky. Willow was reminded of light bouncing off of glass. As the sun rose, the shimmering vanished, but Willow was aware of a strangeness in the quality of the sky’s color. She made her way to her destination without being spotted, a fact for which she was incredibly grateful, her head awhirl with all the things that had happened in the night.

*******

Giles had fallen asleep on his couch. Therefore, when someone started banging on his door at 5:30 in the morning he was alert and upright almost immediately. Bracing himself for attack, he threw open the door expecting to confront vampires, demons, or some other nasty evil. What he got instead was a bloody, terrified Willow Rosenberg. Pulling her behind him, he looked out the door to see what was chasing her, but found nothing. He shut the door and turned back to his apartment. Willow, in the meantime, had made her way to his couch and was now curled up in a corner, knees drawn up to her chest, her hands covering her face, though oddly, not touching it.

"What happened?" Taking one look at her, he decided that explanations could wait. "Never mind. Let’s get you cleaned up." He sat down beside her and gently drew her hands away from her face. He hissed as he saw the nasty cut on her cheek. He could see that the cut had been cleaned, albeit inexpertly, but the skin around it looked raw and tender. He debated taking her a hospital, but decided against it eventually. Too many questions would be asked and besides, as a Watcher, he had received some medical training for emergencies such as these. "Willow, I’ll be right back." he said. "Don’t worry, everything will be all right." He said this more to reassure himself than her. <What the bloody hell happened to her?> As he collected the supplies he would need, his mind raced with possibilities. Finally he returned to the couch, grateful to see that Willow had calmed down somewhat, and was now sitting straight, feet on the floor, watching him.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" he asked, gently, as he opened the bottle of disinfectant. "By the way, I should warn you that this will hurt."

"Big surprise." Willow smirked, then winced as pain flared in her cheek. "I.... I was at the library.... and I got involved in research. Time just sort of slipped away from me." Giles didn’t berate her. He, himself, had often been caught in sticky situations when his interest in a subject had overridden his common sense. He doused a clean cloth with the disinfectant and began to gently clean the cut. Willow gasped in pain, but didn’t move her head. "Anyway, I was getting ready to leave when I was attacked.... by Xander." It was Giles’ turn to wince. He had fought several times against the fledgling and knew, from personal experience, that Xander Harris was one of the strongest new-made vampires to come down the pipe in a long time. Add to that Willow’s emotional baggage concerning her former friend and it was a wonder she was still alive.

He continued to clean the cut, letting Willow tell the story at her own pace. "We fought and I was doing well until he pulled out a knife and cut me...." She paused to take a deep breath. Giles picked up a needle and dipped it into the disinfectant. Willow saw what he was doing, but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she went on with her story. "I ran then and I got really, really lucky. Did you know that boy vampires can’t go into the girls’ bathroom?" Giles started at this and chuckled softly.

"No, but it is something worth remembering."

"Yeah." Giles held up the needle, which had been threaded, and Willow nodded and closed her eyes. As Giles began to work, Willow held still, trying not to tense her facial muscles. Her next words were somewhat muffled as she didn’t want to open her mouth too wide, but Giles had no trouble understanding her. "So then he tried to come in, but he bounced. He started telling me how the Master wanted him to turn me into.... one of them." Willow barely stopped herself from shuddering. "Then he said.... Giles, he said that the Master is free."

Upon reflection, she should have waited until after he finished stitching up her face to break the news to him. As it was, Giles nearly poked Willow in the eye with the needle. "What? Are you sure?"

"Watch it!" she yelped.

"Oh. Sorry." He took a deep breath and continued his work. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be without actually seeing him." Willow replied. "Anyway, Xander finally left when he realized that it was almost daylight. I waited until I saw the sunrise then ran over here. Oh! And there’s something wrong with the sky."

"What?" This change in subject threw Giles for a loop. "What’s wrong with the sky?"

"I don’t know." Willow admitted. "When I was on my way over here, I noticed a strange sort of shimmering.... and the color seems to be wrong."

"We’ll worry about that later." Giles decided. "Right now, we have to deal with the larger problem."

"The Master." Giles finally finished his grisly task, gently taped a bandage over the wound, and sat back to examine his protegee. Willow had not cried out once during what had to have been an excruciatingly painful process, but her cheeks were wet with her tears. He tenderly brushed them away, being careful to avoid accidentally touching her cut. His mind was awash with all sorts of conflicting emotions. He was angry, at her for putting herself in danger, at himself for not protecting her from that danger, and at the vampires for creating the danger in the first place. At the same time, he was terrified, both of what could have happened to her and of the implications of her news that the Master was free. Both of these were eclipsed, however, by the overwhelming admiration and respect he felt for the woman sitting in front of him. For just a moment, Giles let his mind wander into the forbidden territory that had been so tempting of late, then pulled himself back to reality.

"Yes, the Master." He said this with a sigh. "But I think that’s a problem that can wait until you get some sleep."

"Sleep?" Willow’s eyes widened a bit. "How am I supposed to sleep after all this?"

"Easily." Giles smirked. "I’m going to give you a pain-killer that has a mild sedative in it. You should have no trouble at all." Willow looked at him doubtfully, but Giles insisted on herding her into his spare bedroom, then handed her a t-shirt. She dutifully took the medicine, and indeed, she soon drifted off. Giles spent the morning puttering around his apartment, doing things that wouldn’t make too much noise. Several times he checked up on Willow, and once had to rouse her from some nightmare. She fell asleep again quickly, and this time her rest was peaceful.

At around 1 in the afternoon, Giles heard water running in the bathroom. He wondered how Willow was planning on showering with the bandage on her face, but then realized that she was going to take a bath. A half-hour later, she came downstairs, looking somewhat rested. She had put on her jeans again, but had borrowed another one of his t-shirts.

"I hope you don’t mind." she said, bashfully. "Mine has blood on it."

"Not at all." he hastened to reassure her. "Feeling better?"

"Yes." she smiled slightly. "Have you come up with a brilliant plan to save our butts yet?"

"No, not yet." he chuckled, glad that she could still see humor in the situation. "However, I think that we ought to go out and take a look at this strange sky of yours." She nodded quickly, all business again, and he held the door open for her. When he stepped outside, he immediately noticed the difference.

"You see what I mean?" she asked.

"Yes." Giles shaded his eyes and looked at the sun. "It’s looks like... like...."

"Like the sun is shining through a window that’s tinted slightly." Willow finished the thought for him.

"Exactly." Giles agreed. "And is it me, or does it look like whatever it is that’s doing this is somehow curving?"

"Yeah." Willow looked off towards the edge of town. "Almost as if we were in some sort of tent or dome....."

"I think we need to investigate this." Giles said, nervously. Willow nodded and, as one, they headed for Giles’ car. They drove in silence to the highway and followed it until the wall of the "dome" loomed before them. It was much more noticeable here, just outside of town, then it had been before. Giles stopped the car and they both got out.

"What do you think it is?" Willow asked, fearfully.

"I don’t know. Stay here." For once, Willow didn’t argue with him. Giles walked forward, hand out-stretched, not knowing what to expect. He wasn’t expecting to brush his fingertips against what appeared to be a solid wall of air. "Bloody hell!" he swore vehemently. Willow walked forward and placed her hand against the invisible obstruction. She also let out an oath, though hers was much quieter.

"Hey!" Both Willow and Giles started at the sound. Turning back towards the road, they encountered a middle-aged man driving a luxury car. Willow wasn’t sure, but she thought he might be the father of one of her schoolmates. He looked at them, looked at the strange wall, then he too burst out into a stream of violent curses. "Don’t tell me it’s here too."

"What do you mean, ‘here too?’" Giles asked, not liking the implications of the statement.

"I was trying to go north on Route 23 and almost ran into this thing." The man said, coming to stand by them. "There’s a whole crowd of people over there now. It’s a real mess, so I decided to come this way." Apparently he wasn’t the only one with that idea. As he spoke two more cars came up alongside them and pulled over. Giles immediately took charge of the situation and questioned the other travelers carefully about their destinations and their routes of travel. They soon learned that the strange barrier extended all the way around the town.

"It even looks like it stretches out over the ocean." one person said. Willow and Giles refrained from discussing the possible causes of the Barrier with the others, and tried to calm everyone down. Finally, they got back into Giles’ car and rode in silence back to his apartment.

When they were safely indoors, Giles let out a long-held breath. "I think that we now have proof that the Master is free." he said quietly.

"I had no idea he could do *that*." Willow said. "I mean, everything I read about him says that he had power, but to be able to do *that*....."

"He’d need another mage." Giles interrupted. "No one person or demon could construct that kind of barrier by himself." He thought a moment. "No one person can take it down either. The mage would have to die...."

"So what do we do?" Willow asked.

"I have absolutely no idea."

******

November, 1998

"So what did you do?" Cordelia was breathless, hanging on Willow’s every word.

"Well, as you can probably tell, we didn’t get the Barrier down." Willow smirked humorlessly. "Besides, soon we had other things to worry about. The Master started recruiting that night. Ever since, Giles, Larry, Oz, and I have had our hands full trying to keep the vampire population down."

"Much luck?" Cordelia asked, already knowing the answer.

"No." Willow sighed. "As far as the Master is concerned, he just needs to leave enough people alive to make more people. Sunnydale is his perpetual food farm. Delivery trucks and stuff can get in, and so can the mail, but nobody who lives here can leave."

"Well didn’t people on the outside notice when a giant bubble went up?"

"Not really. As far as we can tell, people on the outside have trouble remembering that the town of Sunnydale exists. We still get deliveries and the mail.... and believe me, the phone company remembers you when you don’t pay your bill–even if you’re trapped inside a magic wall. People in town seem to be unable to think about leaving or getting help. Giles and I are the only ones who are completely unaffected."

"Why is that?"

"I don’t know." Willow shrugged. "Probably because we know the whole truth about what’s going on. Most people don’t. They know that nasty creatures of the night exist and that they shouldn’t leave their houses after the sun goes down and that they shouldn’t wear light-colored clothing...."

"No light-colored clothing? Why not?"

"It attracts vampires." Willow said, matter-of-factly. "Anyway, people know this stuff, but if they ran into a vampire, they wouldn’t have a clue how to kill it. Most people still think that the Barrier is a man-made object. They can’t accept the idea of magic."

"What about the Council?"

"They said that they would send help.... but that was a year and a half ago. We think that maybe they’re suffering from the same ‘forgetfulness’ that affects the outside world."

"Bummer." Cordelia shook her head. "So, is that when you and Giles... uh..... moved in together?" She was about to ask if that was when they had become a couple, but thought better of it.

"Yes, actually." Willow’s answer shocked Cordelia. "It’s not what you’re thinking." she chuckled. "My folks were out of town, remember? They ‘forgot’ to come back. I don’t have a job and couldn’t afford to support myself, so Rupert asked me to move in with him."

"Oh." Cordelia replied, not quite sure what to make of this. "Didn’t anyone say anything?"

"Not really. I wasn’t the only ‘Barrier orphan.’ There were a bunch of kids whose parents went out to dinner in another town or on vacation, or on business trips, and just never came back. We all had to move in with friends, relatives, or in some cases, total strangers." She hung her head. "When the Barrier goes down, there’s going to be a lot of trouble."

"I’ll bet." Cordelia grimaced, thinking of what Willow’s parents would say and do when they got back to town. "Did you like living here? I mean before you and Giles... uh...." She blushed.

Willow giggled at her new friend’s discomfort. "It took some getting used to, I’ll admit. At first, Rupert was in this ‘All Slay, all the time’ mode. Every minute that I wasn’t sleeping or eating or at school, he had me training or patrolling. I finally told him to knock it off or I was going to exercise some of my newfound abilities on his head." Both girls laughed at this. "He finally calmed down and loosened up a bit."

"I noticed that." Cordelia said. Willow looked at her askance. "Well, yeah there’s that, but this time I was referring to his clothes. Honest."

Willow smiled. "Yeah. We both had to adapt to necessity. I used to wear a lot of loose clothes, sneakers, you know...."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, Rupert said that they were going to be a problem in a fight. He was right. I eventually had to point out to him that tweed wasn’t the best battle gear either."

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Cordelia’s head. "So the acid rock isn’t yours!" She smiled, congratulating herself on having figured this out.

"Oh no." Willow shook her head. "The blame for that lies squarely on Rupert’s shoulders." She thought a minute, then spoke again. "So, anyway, the Barrier went up and we were all trapped inside to be the Master’s own personal meat market. Life in Sunnydale has pretty much been chaos and mayhem ever since. That’s it. That’s the whole kit and caboodle."

"Wait!" Cordelia protested. "You still haven’t told me how you two got together."

"Oh, didn’t I?" Willow said, innocence written all over her face.

*******

May, 1998

"Hello?" Giles was sitting on the sofa and picked up the phone. "Hold on a minute, will you?" He held his hand over the receiver and stood up. "Watcher’s Council." he said. "I’m going to take this upstairs." Willow nodded and took the phone from him, careful not to make any noise. Giles disappeared into his bedroom and, as soon as she heard his voice, Willow hung up the downstairs extension. Although she was curious, she didn’t dare listen in. The Council was still blissfully unaware of her existence and, all things considered, it was best to keep it that way. Willow went back to preparing for patrol, and had just finished coiling her hair around her head, when she heard a loud crash from upstairs.

Swearing loudly and violently, Giles stormed down the stairs. Willow remained silent, merely watching and waiting. She had seen him in this kind of mood before, and knew that eventually, he would get around to telling her what was wrong.

"Bloody Council, Bloody Slayer, Bloody Hell!" Giles gave the couch a good kicking, then turned to face Willow. His voice had taken on that rougher tone that it only got when he was very drunk, very angry, or both. "It would appear that Miss Buffy Summers has finally decided to make her presence known to the Watchers’ Council." Willow gasped, but refrained from asking questions. She knew from experience that to do so at this juncture would irritate him further. He sat down beside her and continued. "She’s been in Cleveland this entire time. Can you believe it? Bloody Cleveland! Anyway, it would appear that Cleveland has quite the little demon population and she called the Council for backup. Clever girl, huh? So then the Council calls me to haul my ass out to bloody Cleveland to be her Watcher. So, in my most reasonable voice, I tell them that I can’t leave Sunnydale. They ask me why and I remind them about the Barrier. They then tell me to stop using the Hellmouth and the Barrier as excuses to keep my head in the sand. We go on like this for a while, you see, and finally they tell me that my services are no longer required. They fired me, can you believe it?"

"Giles.... I’m so sorry! I don’t know what to say." Willow stared at him in shock. "Can I do anything to help?"

"No. Thanks." He said. "I think that this is one of those situations that requires a good deal of alcohol." Taking a deep breath, he looked at her. "Can you handle patrol on your own tonight? I don’t think I’ll be much good to you.."

"Yeah, sure." While Giles wandered over to the liquor cabinet to pick his poison, Willow pulled on her boots. When she left for patrol, Giles was just settling down with a bottle and a shot glass. When she returned several hours later, he was thoroughly smashed. Willow removed her jacket and boots and went to sit on the couch. Meanwhile, Giles was pacing around muttering incoherently to himself. It took him a while to register Willow’s presence.

"Oh, hello." He saluted her with a half-empty bottle. Willow surmised that the shot glass had been abandoned some time ago. "How are things on the front lines?"

"The same as always." she shrugged. "I staked four vamps tonight, but I have a feeling the Master has already replenished his ranks."

"See? See?" Giles pointed at her. "That’s what they don’t understand! They’re too busy sitting on their fat arses and.... and.... and don’t give a damn what happens to us."

"Who?" Willow had some experience dealing with a drunk Rupert Giles and knew that the best thing to do was to draw him out into conversation. If he continued to hold his anger inside, he would eventually fly into a destructive rage from which nothing and no one was safe.

"The Council, that’s who." he growled. "D’you know how many of them have actually seen a vampire, let alone had to fight one? None! That’s how many."

"If none of them have ever seen or fought a vampire, how did they end up on the Watcher’s Council in the first place?"

"Heredity." Giles spat. "Their fathers were on the Council and their grandfathers and their great grand-fathers and so on. I’ll bet none of them ever fought a vampire neither."

"This explains a lot." Willow murmured. "So how did you end up as a Watcher?"

"Same way. My Dad was a Watcher, so was his dad and his dad and on and on ad nauseum." His voice turned sarcastic. "I was just lucky enough to be Called this time around."

"Called?" Willow thought about this for a minute. "Oh! You were called to Watch the Slayer?"

"Right. Only the Slayer’s in Cleveland and the Council’s fired me, so I guess I’m no longer her Watcher, huh?" He smirked at her and took a long swig from his bottle. His expression suddenly turned dark. "Bloody Hell! I’ve spent a good portion of my life studying and learning how to fight so that I might someday have the opportunity to Watch over a girl whose sole destiny in life is to combat evil. I was supposed to fight with her, to protect her and all the other innocents of the world..... How the bloody Hell am I supposed to do that now?"

Willow spoke quietly and hesitantly. "From what you’ve told me.... being Called to be a Watcher is like being Called to be a Slayer, right? I mean, it isn’t really a decision made by a Council or a Committee.... it’s something you’re destined to do from birth?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, the power that Called you has to be more powerful than the Council..... and it stands to reason that only that power can truly relieve you of your duties. You’re still the Watcher as long as that power wants you, whatever the Council says."

He stared at her in shock. "By God, you’re right!" His excitement vanished almost as quickly as it had come. "But that stupid chit is in Cleveland. How am I supposed to watch her if I can’t even leave town? She’s the Slayer and if I can’t Watch her, what am I supposed to do with myself?"

"You go on with what you’ve been doing for the past year and a half. You fight the vampires and protect Sunnydale from all the other demons that want a taste of the Hellmouth. Don’t underestimate what you’ve done here."

"But what good is any of it?" he asked somberly. "The Master is free and the vampires run this town at night and every time we kill a demon, another one just comes in to take its place."

"Giles," Willow said patiently "if it weren’t for you, I would be dead.... uh.... I mean undead right now."

"That’s another thing!" Giles bellowed, startling Willow. "What am I supposed to do about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"How’m I supposed to protect you from all the evil monshtr... mons..... things?" Giles drank again.

"We’ll manage." she said, trying to comfort him. "We always do."

"Yeah, but we’ve always had the Council before. They’ve got records and experts and... and...." Giles waved his hands in the air helplessly. "Stuff! What’re we supposed to do without the stuff?"

"Frankly, the Council’s experts were never much help anyway. Most of them are either incredibly pompous or in a nuthouse. Besides, we can get a hold of information whenever we want, whether the Council likes it or not."

"And just how are we supposed to do that?" he stared at her incredulously. "Maybe we should scale the walls of the Watcher’s compound and steal the files out from under their noses, hmmm?" He thought about this for a minute, then began to smile. "Hey! That’s not such a bad idea! That would really fix those smug bastards, wouldn’t it?"

"Actually, I was thinking of something a little less... uh.... dangerous." Willow replied, diplomatically. "I can hack into the Watcher’s system and download anything we need."

"You can do that?" He stared at her in wonder.

"Sure! I’ve done it before." she shrugged nonchalantly. "We’re just lucky that not all Watchers are technophobes." she grinned at him.

"That’s great!" Giles giggled. "They’ll never know..... no, they’ll never suspect a thing...." His eyes glazed over and he slowly fell sideways onto the couch, dropping the nearly empty bottle on the rug. Willow looked at him for a moment and sighed.

"Come on, then." She stood up and pulled him into an upright position. "Let’s get you to bed before you pass out completely." They managed to navigate the stairs without mishap and Willow removed Giles’ shoes and tie, before tucking him in for the night. She turned out the lights and closed the door softly, but Giles didn’t notice because by this point, he was unconscious.

*****

"Giles?" He heard the voice as if it was coming from a distance. The voice was telling him something about school and calling in sick, but he wasn’t really paying attention. All that really mattered to him was that the voice belonged to Willow. Willow, the sweetest girl in the world, so brave, so strong..... How would he ever get along without her? She had more bravery and courage in her little finger than that entire damn stinking Council had in their collective..... No wonder he loved her so much. All he wanted to do was to protect her from the big, bad vampires and all the other nasty creatures out there in the big, bad world. He wanted to keep her safe and warm.... he wanted to hold her, shelter her, love her... make love to her..... His thoughts turned to how she would feel in his arms, in his bed...... Of course all that was a dream, unless..... <Willow, do you love me?>

"Yes, I love you. So much." The voice came from that same far-off place, and Giles was fairly sure he had imagined it, but what wasn’t imagined was the feel of her lips brushing his cheek just before he slipped back into oblivion.

*****

Willow had a great deal of trouble concentrating on schoolwork that day. All day long, her thoughts kept being pulled back to that scene this morning..... she had gone into Giles’ room to tell him that she was leaving and that she had called the school to tell them that he was too sick to come in. She had been in the process of readjusting his sheets when he had started muttering in his alcohol-induced sleep. She hadn’t paid any attention until he had grabbed her wrist and started saying her name over and over again. Then came a litany of her finer qualities, followed by a melodramatic, if somewhat incoherent, declaration of love, or lust, or..... something. She had listened to all this in stunned silence, but had come out of her reverie when, in clear tones he had asked her if she loved him. She didn’t know what had possessed her to answer, but she had told him the truth, then kissed him on the cheek. He had settled back into slumber and she had left quickly.

All day, Willow wondered if Giles had truly meant what he said about loving her and wanting to be with her..... and if he hadn’t, how would he take her statements? <Dear Goddess, let him not remember anything, PLEASE?> she silently begged over and over again. If he did remember what she said, she could always pass it off as humoring a drunk man, couldn’t she? But what if he had really meant it..... she shook those thoughts out of her head. She couldn’t bear to get her hopes up on that score. She would just have to pray that he was one of those people whose memories were affected by alcohol......

*****

Giles groaned. Then he winced as the sound caused his already aching head to throb harder. His eyelids were still closed, but he could tell that sunlight was streaming through his bedroom window. He cracked one eye open and shut it again immediately. <Bad idea, sport> he admonished himself, then laboriously rolled onto his side so that he was facing the wall. Eventually, he worked up the nerve to open his eyes again and, while doing so certainly didn’t help his condition, it was at least bearable this time. For a few minutes he stared at the night-table, not comprehending the importance of the numbers on the digital alarm clock. When he finally registered that the numbers were a lot higher than they should have been, he cursed.

He made a valiant struggle to get out of bed, but finally gave up once he had reached a sitting position. He put his head between his knees in an effort to stop the room from spinning and attempted to come up with some reasonable explanation to give to his superiors about why he was so incredibly late. It was almost noon–he should have been at the school hours ago–and there was no sign of Willow..... At that moment Giles noticed the glass of water sitting next to the alarm clock. An opened bottle of aspirin was also on the night stand and Giles had a hazy memory of Willow saying that she would call the school and tell them that he was ill. He gratefully took two of the tablets and finally mustered the strength to go into the bathroom and take care of some urgent business.

Giles was on his second cup of coffee and the hangover was starting to fade (at least a little bit) when the memories of what had happened during the last 24 hours began to surface from the misty fog that was his current mental state. At first, all he could remember was that he’d gotten drunker than he had.... well, than he had been since his misspent youth. Then he remembered why he had become so drunk, and considered doing it all over again. He resisted the impulse, knowing that giving in to temptation would only make matters worse. Some blurry recollections of his conversations with Willow came to mind and he made a mental note to thank her for her kind words.

Then the scenes from earlier that morning began to replay themselves in his head. He could vaguely remember Willow coming into his room and calling his name. Then there was a confusing jumble of thoughts and words.... he didn’t know what he’d been thinking, as opposed to what he’d actually said out loud. Willow had said she loved him.... or had that been some sort of alcohol induced hallucination, too? Standing in his kitchen in the broad light of day, Giles had no idea what was illusion and what was reality. He tried to focus his mind on the problem, but that only made his head hurt again. Giles made a mental note to also apologize to Willow for whatever embarrassment he might have caused her, then turned back to the all important task of getting rid of his hangover.

****

Willow arrived home from school and they settled into their usual routine, neither of them wanting to say anything about the recent upheaval in their lives. Willow did her homework, while Giles read the newspaper and nursed yet another cup of strong, black coffee. He finally broached the subject while they were preparing dinner.

"Uh, Willow, I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night." he stammered, not daring to meet her eyes.

"It’s okay." she smiled at him. "I completely understand." He sighed in relief and raised his head.

"Thank you. I am truly sorry if I said anything to offend you. Not," he added ruefully, "that I can remember much of what I said."

"Really?" she asked, mentally crossing her fingers. "What do you remember?"

"Well, I remember that blasted phone call from the Council.... and I remember suggesting that we scale the walls of the Compound." he smirked. "And I remember you having some very kind things to say about my position as Watcher... and I do remember you saying something about calling in sick for me this morning. Thank you for that, by the way."

"No problem." Willow let out the breath that she hadn’t even known she was holding. "What are friends for?"

"Indeed." He turned back to the important task of peeling the carrots. "So, how did patrol go last night? I may have asked you this already, but...."

"You don’t remember what I said?" she asked, giggling.

"Yes, exactly." he said, chagrined.

"Patrol went well. I got four of them." His eyes widened in shock.

"All at once?"

"No!" she responded, quickly. "I met up with two of them on Elm street, one by the school, and one trying to break into the police station."

"Good. I’m sorry that you had to go alone."

"Oh, that’s okay." she shrugged. "I can take care of myself.... even against the big, bad vampires." The minute the words left her mouth, Willow wished with all her might that she could take them back. She stayed perfectly still, focusing all her attention on the celery she was chopping, and silently begged any deities that were listening to have mercy on her. <Please let him not remember.....>

Giles stared at the carrot in his hand. The minute she had mentioned the "big, bad vampires" his memories had come flooding back, clear and sharp as a tack. He remembered babbling about how much he loved her and how much he wanted to....<Dear God, she must think I’m some kind of pervert....>

Slowly, Giles turned around. Willow was standing at the counter, her back towards him, and she was hacking away at the celery as if it were her worst enemy. She could feel his eyes on her back and slowly put the knife down, but she refused to face him.

"Willow...." Giles stammered. "I.... I don’t know what to say..... I..... I’m so sorry.... I didn’t mean... yes, well I did mean it..... but," he stopped as another memory worked it’s way to the surface. Willow chose that moment to turn around, so she saw his expression change from that of humiliation to one of childlike wonder. "Willow." he exclaimed. "You said.... you said you loved me."

"Oh, I think I need to sit down." she murmured. She walked to the table on unsteady feet and collapsed into the chair.

"I know how you feel." Giles did the same. For a moment, neither of them spoke or looked at the other.

"So," Willow said, "what do we do now?" Giles looked at her. Her hands were folded together on the table in front of her and she was staring at them as if they might disappear if she looked away for even a second. He thought about all the things that were standing in their way–the difference in their ages, the fact that she was a student, the Hellmouth–and realized that he didn’t give a damn. He loved her and if she truly felt the same way, then there wasn’t anything they couldn’t overcome. He reached out and placed his hand over hers. She kept her head bowed.

"Willow, please look at me." he said, softly. It took her a minute to work up the courage to do so, but finally she raised her eyes to meet his. "Last night and this morning, I was drunk and I said some things that I wouldn’t normally say. That not to say that I didn’t mean every single word, just that I would never have had the.... the...." he stopped to search for the right word "the courage to say them out loud. Now, however, I’m sober.... well, I’m as sober as one can get after downing six aspirin and two pots of black coffee..... so I hope that you can believe me when I say that I love you. More than that, I’m in love with you." She stared at him, and were the situation not so serious, he would have been tempted to laugh at the incredulous expression on her face. "Willow, say something."

"I don’t know what to say." she blurted out. "Why me?"

"Why? Because you’re brave and beautiful and intelligent and you put up with me even though I’ve pushed you beyond all reasonable limits and I’m a lousy drunk and...."

"You’re not a lousy drunk." she responded, automatically. Realizing the inappropriateness of the statement, she blushed. "I’ll be quiet now."

"No, don’t." he pleaded. "I want... no, I *need* to know what you’re thinking."

"I’m confused." she said, honestly. "I want to believe you.... I want that more than anything else, but there’s this little part of me that says it isn’t real. Stuff like this only happens in stories.... it doesn’t happen to girls like me." She willed herself not to cry.

"Girls like you aren’t supposed to be fighting vampires either." he replied. "That’s real, isn’t it?"

"Sure, use logic on me why don’t you." she smirked.

"Whatever it takes, right?" He held out his hand and, after a moment’s hesitation, she pressed her palm against his in the familiar gesture, weaving her fingers through his.

"Right." she said, softly. She raised her eyes to meet his and, without flinching, said "I love you, Rupert Giles." A single tear slid down her cheek.

"I love you, Willow Rosenberg." he replied. He leaned in to kiss her, but started when someone pounded on the door. "What the Hell?"

"Hey!" The voice was muffled, but Willow recognized it immediately.

"It’s Oz." she said. This was followed by a loud crash coming from outside. "He’s in trouble." They stood and raced for the door, only stopping to pick up stakes from the hall table. Giles flung open the door and Willow immediately staked the vampire that was holding on to her friend. He vanished in a cloud of ash and Willow pushed past Oz to face the other two creatures of the night. She made short work of them, then retreated indoors.

"What are you, out of your mind?" she nearly screamed at Oz. "Why were you walking around at night?"

"My van broke down." he explained. "I was on my way home from Larry’s and the motor died. I was headed here when I got attacked."

"Oh." Willow said, only somewhat mollified.

"Are you all right?" Giles asked the youth.

"Yeah, sure." he replied. "But I don’t really want to go back out there...."

"Of course not." Giles sighed. He exchanged a glance with Willow and briefly considered throttling the new arrival. "You can stay here tonight."

*****

June, 1996

Giles floated in a pleasant dream-like state for a while before finally regaining some semblance of awareness. The first thing he noticed was that something was on his shoulder. It was heavy, but not uncomfortably so, so he wasn’t really worried. The slight tickling sensation coming from his neck finally convinced him to open his eyes. Turning his head slightly, he found himself staring at something that had only been a fantasy until last night–Willow Rosenberg sleeping beside him. She was curled up against him, still fast asleep, and her arm was thrown across his chest. He simply stared at her for a while, unable to think of anything more beautiful.

Careful not to disturb her, Giles reached out with his free hand and snagged a box from off his night-stand. He had meant to give it to her last night, but they had quickly become otherwise engaged and the present had slipped his mind. He considered waking her up, then smiled as he had a better idea. Propping the box on his chest, he managed to open it and remove its contents with one hand. He placed the item on his chest, surprised at its coolness, then put the box back on the table. He picked up the ring and studied it for a moment, remembering what his father had told him about it. The band was simple–two strands of gold entwined together in a never-ending circle–and it had been passed down in the Giles family for countless generations. The ring was passed from father to son and was usually used as a wedding band. Giles knew that it would be a while before he and Willow could legally marry, but he also knew that she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. She had given him a precious gift when she had come to his bed, and this was the best way he could think of to show her that she had not made a mistake.

Carefully, he slipped the ring onto the ring finger of her right hand and marveled at how well it fit. He knew that rings given as a token of romantic affection (usually those given as engagement or wedding presents) were worn on the left hand, but their relationship had to remain a secret for now. She stirred slightly when he put the ring on, but did not wake. Giles smiled fondly at this and recalled how hard it was to wake Willow out of a deep sleep. So, he made himself comfortable and simply watched her sleep and marveled at the fact that, in the midst of the hell that was his life, he had been able to find this small piece of Heaven.

******

November, 1998

"Oh." Cordelia sighed. "That’s....that’s so *romantic*." She thought about the Rupert Giles she knew and had a hard time picturing him doing or saying any of the things that this Giles had said or done.

"Yeah, it is." Willow was smiling broadly.

"Does anyone know?"

"Well, Oz and Larry do." Willow said. Cordelia then recalled their complete lack of surprise when they had walked in on Willow and Giles making out in the library. "We were.... uh.... kissing in the stacks one day when they kind of found us." Willow blushed slightly.

"I’ll bet Oz must have been pissed."

"No." Willow looked puzzled. "Why would he be?"

"Doesn’t he have a thing for you?"

"Not that I’ve ever noticed." Willow replied. "Besides, Larry’s the jealous type." Cordelia’s jaw dropped when she heard that.

"Oz is with *Larry*?" she squealed. Then another thought hit her. "Wait a minute.... does anyone else know about that?"

"Yeah, it’s pretty much common knowledge." Willow shrugged. "Why?"

"Well.... in my version of Sunnydale, Larry’s not out. I know because Xander accidentally found out and told me, but as far as everyone else knows, Larry’s as straight as an arrow. And Oz....."

"What about him?"

"Oz is dating you.... I mean my version of you." Willow’s eyes widened at this.

"You’re kidding."

"Nope. They’ve been going out for a little under a year now."

Willow thought about this for a moment, then began to speak slowly. "Well, I only met Oz when the whole werewolf thing came up.... that was about nine months ago.... and I was spending most of my waking hours with Rupert, so it took me a while to get to know him. Larry had recently come out, so he was having some social difficulties, and Oz was feeling kind of lost because he was no longer in a band....."

"What happened to ‘Dingos Ate My Baby?"

"They broke up after their lead singer Devon died. From what we know, he went off with some scantily clad groupie and ended up being her dinner."

"Poor Devon." Cordelia murmured. "I used to date him."

"Ick, why? He was so conceited."

"Yeah. But he was cool and popular.... and looked really good in tight pants." They giggled, then Willow picked up her story.

"Anyway, Oz and Larry ended up spending a lot of time together. They became friends, and eventually, they became more than friends. It probably wouldn’t have happened if they had led normal, vampire-free lives."

"I guess." Cordelia shrugged. Willow yawned and stood up, stretching her back.

"So, you got any more questions?"

"Yeah. Did you ever meet Buffy?" Willow scowled.

"Yes. She came to town a couple of months ago because the Council finally got around to deciding to do something about the Master. Anyway, she was an arrogant bitch who treated Rupert like dirt and felt compelled to remind me that I am not a Slayer every five minutes. Her fighting technique was poor–she relied too heavily on her super-strength and not enough on her brain–and the Master killed her."

"Ooh." Cordelia shuddered. "That must not have been pretty."

"It wasn’t." Willow nodded. "I just hope that whoever replaced her has more between the ears, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah." Any further conversation was interrupted by the sound of the key turning in the lock. Willow’s mood immediately brightened as she turned to greet Giles.

"Hey." she said, smiling.

"Hello, dearheart." Giles closed the door and took Willow into his arm, giving her a sound kiss before releasing her. "Hello Cordelia."

"Hi." Cordelia didn’t know why, but she was suddenly shy. The two of them seemed so mature compared to Cordelia and her friends.... and her problems seemed incredibly insignificant now that she knew what they faced on a nightly basis.

"Has Willow filled you in on everything?" If Giles noticed her discomfort, he didn’t mention it.

"Pretty much."

"Good. I’m pleased to say that I believe I know how to send you home."

"Really?" Both girls spoke at once. "How?"

"The Hellmouth is used to travel between this world and the demon dimension. I’ve found a spell that will help us use it to send you back to your world."

"That’s great!" Willow said, then turned to Cordelia. "Not that I don’t enjoy having you, but I’m sure you want to get home."

"Oh yeah." Cordelia said, standing up. "So what do we have to do?"

******

PART 3

******

November, 1998 - the "regular" world

"But we were looking right at her." Buffy stated, staring at her Watcher. "She was there one minute, talking to some girl, and the next, poof!" Giles turned to where Buffy was pointing. There was clearly no sign of Cordelia anywhere on the steps. He was about to state this obvious fact when suddenly, she appeared. She didn’t walk, or run, she simply *appeared* in the exact same spot where Buffy, Xander, and Willow had said she vanished.

"See? See?" Willow’s eyes were wide with shock.

"I see." he replied. Raising his voice, he called Cordelia’s name. She turned, saw the group and began to run towards them.

"You will not *believe* what just happened to me!" she panted when she reached them.

"You’ve discovered that you have the power to become invisible?" Xander smirked.

"No, Geek-boy." Cordelia turned so that she was talking to Giles and Willow. "I was talking to Anya and she gave me this necklace and, well I kind of said that I wished Buffy had never come to Sunnydale–sorry Buff–and she plunked me down into this world where it happened and...."

"Slow down, Cordy." Buffy interrupted her. "Start over. You were talking to Anya and she gave you a necklace...."

"Yeah, see?" Cordelia automatically put her hand up to her neck. "Oh, wait! I forgot that I gave it to Giles...."

"I beg your pardon?" The Watcher looked very confused, as did the other teens.

"Not you, the other Giles." Cordelia held up her hand to forestall further interruptions. "I made a wish that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale and somehow, Anya made it happen. I was in this world where Buffy was the Slayer, but went to Cleveland instead of coming here when she was supposed to. Giles was there, though. I gave the necklace to him."

"Cordelia, I think that you and I better go to the library and discuss this right now." Giles said firmly. "The rest of you ought to get to your classes."

"But I want to hear the story." Willow protested.

"I’m sure Cordelia will tell you all about it later." Giles knew that it would be easier to get some straight answers out of Cordelia if he didn’t have the others around distracting her. "Now, go." Reluctantly, Willow picked up her books and walked off. Xander and Buffy did the same and Cordelia couldn’t help but notice how Xander was looking at the Slayer. Somehow, this didn’t bother her nearly so much as it had earlier that day. She shrugged and followed Giles.

*****

"Giles?" At the sound of the voice, the Watcher instantly tensed.

"Angel." he said, his voice flat. "What can I do for you?"

"There’s trouble." The vampire stepped out of the shadows, but stood well away from the librarian. "It’s the Hellmouth....something’s changed."

"What?" Giles removed his glasses and stared at the seemingly young man.

"I don’t know.... it’s hard to explain.... it’s weakening..... It’s been used...."

"Used?" A suspicion began to form in Giles’ mind. "When? By whom?"

"I don’t know who did it." Angel admitted. "But whatever happened, it happened today." Giles swore softly.

"Do you know where Buffy is?" he finally asked.

"Last I saw her, she was on patrol."

"Find her and tell her to get here as quickly as possible. I’m going to call the others." Angel was about to leave when he heard the Watcher speak. "I..... I think we may need your assistance as well." Angel nodded, then vanished back into the shadows. Giles took a deep breath and picked up the telephone.

******

"This had better be good." Xander grumbled as he entered the library with Oz. "I’m missing ‘Baywatch.’"

"How can you watch that show, Xander?" Buffy asked him as she came in. "It’s just a bunch of bleach blonde, big chested women running around in bathing suits, and forget I asked that question. What’s up, Giles?"

"We need to wait for Willow and Cordelia." the Watcher responded. "And Angel."

"Oh, he’s out in the parking lot." Xander said. "Said something about making sure that we were safe."

"I see. Has anyone heard from Faith?"

"On her way." Buffy nodded. "She stopped off at Shady Glen to take care of business."

"Well, I think it’s best if we leave her here, anyway." Giles muttered to himself. Buffy walked to the table which was covered with bags overflowing with weapons.

"We going on a Crusade?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Something like that." Giles replied as Cordelia and Willow walked into the library. "Hello ladies."

"Hey!" Willow said. "What’s up? Is there some new demon? Or did you find some prophecy? Or.... hi Angel!" They all turned to see the vampire come in through the stacks.

"Hello." he said.

"I guess we can start." Giles said, not wanting to waste any time. "Sit down." As they did, he took a moment to arrange his thoughts. "Before I begin, let me say that some of you may find what I am about to say hard to believe. We don’t have time for in-depth discussions or arguments, so please trust me when I say that I am telling you the truth.... at least as far as I know it."

"Oooo! Oooo! I can see it! It’s very far away and I can barely make it out, but I know it’s coming." Xander cried out suddenly.

"What?" Giles asked, confused at the sudden outburst.

"Your point." Xander smirked. "It’s coming any day now, right?"

"Xander, shush!" Willow hissed at him. "Go on, Giles."

"Yes, well thank you Willow." Giles removed his glasses and began to pace. "As you are all very well aware, Sunnydale rests on a Hellmouth. As you all also know, the Hellmouth acts as a portal between this world and the demon dimension." Xander was about to make another comment, but Willow elbowed him in the ribs. "What you don’t know is that the Hellmouth can also be used to travel to other dimensions."

"What other dimensions?" Buffy asked. "There are other dimensions? Nobody said anything about other dimensions."

"These other dimensions exist as reflections of our own.... they answer the ‘what ifs’ of the world. What if the American Revolution had never been fought? What if Kennedy had not been assassinated? That sort of thing."

"Oh, you mean like on ‘Sliders.’" Willow said, then stared at the confused faces around her. "What?"

"Anyway," Giles continued "Travel between dimensions is virtually impossible for most humans. Even demons have difficulty with it... that’s why they like the Hellmouth so much. It acts as a sort of elevator, making the journey much easier for those who know how to use it. However, every time this elevator gets used, particularly by those who are inexperienced with such things, it gains strength and momentum."

"What do you mean?" asked Buffy.

"Every time someone uses the Hellmouth to travel, it becomes easier for the next person to use it." Willow explained. Her eyes widened as the implications of her statement hit home.

"Exactly." Giles said.

"So, what you’re saying is, someone’s been dimension-hopping with our Hellmouth." Oz’s brow was furrowed.

"Yes." Giles nodded.

"A demon?" Buffy asked, her voice rough with nerves.

"That would explain the weapons." Xander murmured.

"Yes and no." Giles answered Buffy, then held up his hand to forestall the inevitable questions. "The Hellmouth was actually used twice today. Someone used it to transport Cordelia from our dimension to another one, and then someone else sent her back."

"*What*?" Buffy stared at Cordy. "Is that what happened when you disappeared?"

"Yes." Cordelia replied.

"But who would do that?" Willow asked.

"And why?" chimed in Oz.

"The who is very simple–the demoness Anyenka. As for why–well, you’d have to ask her."

"So what’s Anyenka’s deal?" Buffy asked.

"She’s the patron of scorned women." Giles attempted to ignore the dirty looks that Xander was shooting at his ex-girlfriend. "Her specialty appears to be finding young women who have been spurned and tricking them into making a wish. Once the wish is made, Anyenka uses a talisman which has the power to send her victim to a universe where the wish is reality. In the unlikely event that the victim figures out what has happened, she is powerless to do anything about it. Anyenka approached Cordelia, befriended her, and tricked her into making a wish. Fortunately for Cordelia, there were people on the other side who sent her back. Unfortunately for us, Cordelia wished herself into a universe where Buffy didn’t come to Sunnydale at her appointed time."

"Uh....why?" Buffy stared at Cordy.

"I’m sure Cordelia will be happy to explain her actions later." Giles cut in. "The point is, their Hellmouth is open, and the combined effects of that and the heavy traffic on our side have weakened our Hellmouth significantly."

"That doesn’t sound good." Willow looked fearfully at her friends.

"It isn’t." Giles stood and began to pace. "There is a very real danger that our Hellmouth could continue to weaken to the point where a strong demon could force it open."

"That really doesn’t sound good." Buffy said. "What do we do?"

Giles began to tick points off on his fingers. "First, Willow and I are going to have to cast a binding spell on our Hellmouth. However, this is only a temporary solution. We’re going to need to close the Hellmouth on the other side and we should also destroy Anyenka’s talisman, to prevent her from doing this again."

"Great." Buffy sighed. "Do we even know what this talisman is?"

"I believe that it is the necklace that Anyenka–or Anya–gave to Cordelia."

"Didn’t you say something about giving it to some other Giles?" Willow asked Cordelia. The cheerleader nodded.

"So, how are we supposed to get it back?" Xander asked.

"You want us to go there, don’t you?" Xander had completely forgotten the vampire’s presence and visibly started when Angel spoke.

"Yes." Giles nodded.

"Wait just a second." Xander interjected. "Why can’t we just figure out the solution here and send it to their Buffy. Let her deal with it."

"Like I said, Xander, this is a universe where Buffy never came to Sunnydale." Giles paused for a moment. "Actually, that’s not quite accurate. Buffy ran away from home shortly before she was supposed to move to Sunnydale with her mother. She tried to get away from her life as a Slayer."

"Been there, done that." Buffy muttered.

"Anyway, she eventually surfaced in Cleveland. According to Cordelia, she came to Sunnydale a few months ago and was killed. In short, if we’re going to fix this problem, we’ll have to go and do it ourselves." There was a brief moment of silence.

"How different is it?" Willow asked. "I mean, this other dimension....."

"Well, while Buffy didn’t come to Sunnydale, I apparently did–or at least my counterpart did–and while he managed to buy some time, he was unable to stop the Master from opening the Hellmouth. Apparently, the Master has erected some sort of magic field that prevents citizens from leaving town and uses the residents for food and procreation."

"Yuck!" Xander grimaced. "Sounds like a real party town."

"In order to prevent our Hellmouth from opening, we will have to go over there, destroy the necklace, and close their Hellmouth. This will probably entail killing the Master, which, as we all know, won’t be easy."

"Hey! I didn’t get to do enough damage to that guy last time–I say we go have some fun!" Buffy quipped, eliciting a nervous chuckle from the others.

"This isn’t a game." Giles warned. "We’re going to have to fight our way through an army of vampires just to get to the Master... not to mention the fact that we’ll have to defeat whatever was strong enough to imprison an entire town." He paused, and looked at the four human members of the team. "If any of you don’t want to go, just say so."

"I’ll go." Cordelia sighed. "It is sort of my fault that we’re in this mess. Besides, if you just show up without any sort of explanation, you’re all likely to wind up with stakes in your hearts."

"Hey! I’ll go. I’ve always wanted to meet myself." Xander said, his bravado only barely hiding his fear.

"Uh, yeah. About that...." Cordelia began.

"Count me in." Willow interrupted her. "You’ll probably need another witch around." The look Oz gave Willow clearly indicated that he wasn’t planning on being anywhere but by her side.

"What about Faith?" Buffy asked.

"I intend to leave her here." Giles said. "I’ve already called the Watcher’s Council....If anything should happen to one of us.... well, I don’t want to leave Sunnydale completely unprotected."

"Cool. So what’re we waiting for?" Buffy stood up and began to shove weapons into a duffel bag. Xander, Cordelia, and Oz each began to make a bag for themselves while Willow and Giles

began to make preparations for the spell.

******

PART FOUR

*******

November, 1998 - the Alternate Sunnydale

Rupert checked his watch again and tried to concentrate on his book. Willow, Oz, and Larry had gone out on patrol and they were late getting back. Not only was he afraid for their safety, but he was starting to worry about his own. He would never have admitted it to the teens, but he strongly disliked being in the library by himself. After all, the school was a public building with a big, fat invitation carved in stone above the front door. While Willow had managed to place some protective spells on the library, he knew that he would be in serious trouble if the vampires decided to attack in force.

Giving up all pretenses of reading, Rupert put the book on the table, stood up and began to pace. He was rapidly moving from worry to panic when he heard a strange noise out in the hallway. He grabbed a crossbow, made sure it was loaded, and cautiously pushed open the library doors. After seeing that there was no immediate threat, he walked toward the main corridor, but stopped when he heard voices.

"We ready?" The voice belonged to a girl and was somewhat familiar, though Rupert couldn’t place it.

"Good to go." This sounded like Cordelia Chase.

"Hurry. They can’t keep it open forever." This voice was male, but completely unknown to Rupert.

"Well it would help if SOMEBODY carried her fair share..." This voice was also male and unfamiliar to Rupert, but he could tell they were getting closer since he could hear footsteps. Planting his feet firmly, he raised the crossbow, using his free arm as a support. He detested those who shot first and then asked questions, but he saw no reason to be unprepared for whatever was about to come around the corner.

"I am carrying my fair share." This was Cordelia again.

"Will you guys shut up?" This was the naggingly familiar girl’s voice again. "How you doing back there?"

"The portal’s closed and....Buffy, look out!" These words were spoken just as the group rounded the corner and came face to face with Rupert and his crossbow.

Rupert almost dropped the crossbow in shock, but managed to keep it balanced on his forearm. He was currently facing seven people–one of whom was supposed to be dead, one of whom was supposed to be undead, Cordelia Chase, a stranger, a man who could have passed for Rupert’s twin brother, and two teens who were almost exact duplicates of Oz and Willow. They were marching two by two, and all were carrying duffel bags and various and assorted weapons. Each one bore a look of grim determination When they saw him, they all stopped and stared. After a moment’s hesitation, Cordelia stepped forward.

"Giles?"

"Yes?" Both men spoke at once. With an exasperated sigh, Cordelia looked at the twin who was standing behind her and gestured Rupert.

"I was talking to him." Turning back to Rupert, she continued. "You remember me, right? Cordelia Chase? We met last night."

"How do I know you’re the same girl?" Rupert wasn’t taking any chances.

"I gave you a pendant. It was diamond-shaped and had a dark stone in the middle?" Rupert nodded and slowly withdrew the crossbow. Taking this as a positive sign, Cordelia sighed in relief, then winced. "Can we put these down yet? They’re heavy!" Rupert smirked at the comment, and noticed that several of the others did the same.

"Yes." he said finally. "Why don’t you all come to the library? I have a feeling that I may need to sit down." The others nodded and they began to walk down the hall.

"You’re not the only one." This came from the boy who looked exactly like the demon known as Alexander Harris. "Buffy, did you put rocks in my bags or what?"

"Hey, is it my fault that you’re a ninety pound weakling?" By this time, they had reached their destination. Bags and weapons were deposited in the cage and everyone began to take seats around the table. There were more people than chairs, so Rupert, Giles, and the tall, dark haired stranger ended up standing.

Giles turned to Cordelia and said "Perhaps you’d better make the introductions?"

"Oh yeah. Right." The cheerleader pointed to Rupert. "Okay, guys. This is Rupert Giles, version 2.0."

"What do we call you?" asked Buffy. "I mean, things are going to get confusing really fast if two people answer every time someone says ‘Hey Giles.’"

"I personally like ‘G-Funk.’" Xander winced as Willow kicked him under the table and Cordelia elbowed him in the ribs at the same time.

"Call me Rupert." Rupert responded. "Given our different taste in clothing, I doubt telling us apart will be difficult."

"Can’t argue with that." Xander said.

"Anyway...." Cordelia interrupted, glaring at her ex "that’s Xander Harris–otherwise known as ‘geek boy.’" she smiled at him sweetly, but continued before he could respond in kind. "That’s Willow.... but, then again, I guess you already knew that.... that’s Oz, that’s Buffy, and that’s Angel."

"Yes... well, hello." Rupert stammered, taking off his glasses. "I’m very pleased to meet you all, but.... why are you here?" Giles quickly outlined the situation, causing Rupert to blanch.

"I’m so sorry.... I had no idea that our spell would cause such trouble....." he gasped.

"There’s really no way you could have known." Giles reassured him. "I had to call three different sources in the Watcher’s Council just to get a lead."

"What do you intend to do?" Rupert asked.

"First, we need to learn everything we can about your situation." Giles said, beginning to pace. "Frankly, I don’t know what to make of it. Your Hellmouth is open, yet your world isn’t overrun by demons. How is that possible?"

"We think that whoever put up the Barrier, put up some kind of shield on the Hellmouth. That way, the Master could draw from its power without releasing the demons below."

"So, we’ll need to figure out some way to destroy that being and close the Hellmouth before the demons escape. We also need to destroy Anyenka’s talisman. That shouldn’t be too difficult. Where is it?"

"It’s at my apartment." Rupert said. "Along with most of the library’s more esoteric volumes."

"All right then, let’s go." Buffy stood half-way up, but sat down again when Rupert spoke.

"We can’t leave yet. I’m still waiting for the others to come back in from patrol."

"Patrol?" Buffy gasped, her face filled with horror. "Who do you have on patrol?"

"Uh.... well..... " Rupert stammered. "Actually, it’s you two." he gestured to Willow and Oz. "I.... I mean.... "

"We know." Oz said. "Your versions of us."

"Yes." Rupert smiled, relieved that they understood. "And Larry."

"*Larry*?" Xander choked. "Larry Higgins?"

"Yes." Rupert said, confused. "You mean, he’s not part of your group?"

"Hardly." Xander replied. "He hates my guts..... speaking of, where are they?"

"Where are what?" Rupert was thoroughly confused.

"My guts. Where am I? Ooo! Wait! Don’t tell me! You sent me on some dangerous mission into enemy territory, right?" Xander looked excited, Cordelia looked uncomfortable.

"Uh.... Xander?" she began. "You’re not exactly part of this team."

"Oh, come on Cordy." Xander scoffed. "Do you really think I’d let my best friend fight the creatures of the night without me?"

"Actually, you’ve tried to kill your best friend on several occasions." Rupert said this with a straight face, wondering how the youth would react. Of all the new arrivals, he was most uncomfortable with Xander Harris. Aside from the fact that someone with the same face–albeit better taste in clothing–had been trying to kill them for almost two years, he remembered that Willow had once been half in love with her friend. He had no idea how she was going to react to seeing him again.

"What’s he talking about, Cordelia?" All the levity had left Xander’s voice.

"Xander, you’re a vampire here." Cordelia finally said, quietly. While she was very angry at Xander for hurting her, she wouldn’t have wished that fate on her worst enemy.

"She’s right." Rupert said. "Your counterpart is quite strong–in fact, he’s the Master’s right hand."

Any further conversation was cut off by a loud crash coming from the hallway. Gesturing to the others to stay where they were, Rupert grabbed a stake and quickly left. As soon as he was gone, Buffy, Xander, and Willow all ran to the doors and stared through the small window. At first, they saw nothing, but then they saw Rupert run past, followed by a small girl with long red hair.

"Is that...." Xander stared at her.

"I can’t tell." By this time, the others had joined them. They watched as the girl grabbed a vampire, shoved him up against the lockers and quickly staked him. She then pivoted and delivered a kick to another vampire’s head, sending him backwards into Rupert’s arms. Rupert pressed a cross to the vampire’s head, causing him to scream and lurch forward. The vampire was so busy trying to get away from Rupert’s cross, that he never noticed the girl’s hand flying towards his chest. In seconds, he was dust. The girl turned, so that her face was in profile.

"My God, that’s...." Angel whispered.

"But what happened to her face?" Buffy asked.

"Get back, they’re coming in." Giles ordered. The gang stepped back, waiting and listening to the conversation that was taking place outside.

"Where are Oz and Larry?" This was Rupert.

"Larry broke his arm, so Oz dropped me off here and is taking him to the hospital." The voice sounded almost exactly like Willow, but there was a slight difference that nobody could put their finger on at first.

"Will he be all right?"

"Oh yeah." The girl laughed. "He broke it after the fight. He was so excited that he didn’t pay attention to what he was doing and fell into an open grave." The laughter that followed this was strange, yet familiar at the same time. The girl’s voice became serious. "Listen, Rupert, we’ve got a serious problem..."

The door started to open, but closed again as Rupert spoke. "Before you go in there, there’s something you should know. Cordelia Chase is back and she brought some.... friends."

"Really? Can’t wait to meet them."

"Willow, wait!" But Rupert was too late. Willow opened the door and, unfortunately for both of them, the first person she saw was Xander. Uttering a primal scream, she lunged at him, stake aimed at his heart. Rupert reached out to stop her, but Buffy got there first. She knocked the stake out of the other girl’s hand and came face to face with someone who could have been Will’s sister. Instinctively, Willow reached out to push aside the person who was standing between her and her prey, but by this time, Rupert was close enough to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax." he ordered. "It’s not him."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I’m sure. It’s all right." he said, his voice soothing. It was only then that Willow registered the fact that the supposedly-dead Slayer was standing in front of her. She gasped, and took a step back.

"Oh my." she murmured. "I think I need to sit down."

"I know that this must be confusing to you...." Giles stepped forward, and Willow yelped.

"There’s two.... Rupert.... " she gasped.

"I know. I know." Rupert reassured her. "Sit down." Willow gratefully accepted the chair offered to her and looked to Rupert for an explanation, which he repeated quickly. "So," he finished "in order to prevent their Hellmouth from opening, they’re going to help us defeat the Master."

"Easier said than done." Willow said, still staring at Rupert. "That’s what I needed to talk to you about. We got into a major fight against some vamps who were grabbing people and shoving them into a truck. After we dusted the vamps, the people told us that the Master has something big planned for tomorrow night."

"Something big? Do you have any idea what?"

"Not really." Willow shook her head. "All I know for sure is that it’s going to happen at that old factory outside of town... you know, the one on River Road? They’re grabbing everyone they can get their hands on, and they said something about the entire demon population of Sunnydale being there as well."

"That doesn’t sound good." Angel muttered. Every head turned to stare at him.

"Who are you?" Willow asked. "I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but.... who are you?"

"Angel."

"Oh yes." Willow nodded. "I’ve heard of you." To everyone’s surprise, she didn’t seem particularly frightened or disgusted. Willow turned to look at Cordelia. "Hey, Cordy. I wasn’t expecting to see you back so soon."

"Well, I just couldn’t stay away." Cordelia cracked a grin, which was matched by Willow’s. Willow then looked at Xander and nobody missed the hate in her eyes. Xander involuntarily stepped backwards.

"Hey, look.... " he stammered. "I don’t know what I did to you...."

"This, for starters." Willow growled, gesturing to the scar on her face. Relaxing a little, she sighed. "I’m sorry for going after you, but you *do* look exactly like him.... except for the clothes."

"You mean my double doesn’t have my great fashion sense? Poor guy." Everyone laughed, and the ice was broken. Still, Willow kept throwing nervous glances in Xander’s direction.

Rupert then carefully introduced her to the others. Willow grinned when she met Oz, saying only "Haven’t we met somewhere before?" When she met her short-haired, scar free twin, she simply stared for a minute, not saying anything.

"Question." Xander broke the silence. "What do we call them?" he gestured to the two Willows who were still examining one another.

Willow snapped out of her reverie at the question. Giving the matter some thought, she finally said "Cordelia told me that you call her ‘Will.’ How’s that?"

"So, she’s Will and you’re Willow?" Buffy tested this in her mind. "Works for me. How ‘bout you, Will?"

"Yeah, it’s good." Will was still getting over the shock of seeing what she could have been like if Buffy hadn’t come to town.

"Well, now that’s settled, what say we move this party?" Oz suggested. He was having trouble with the two Willows thing too and wanted to be in a situation where he didn’t have to look at them look at each other.

"Good idea." Rupert agreed, then looked perplexed. "Willow, how many people can you seat in your car?"

"You have a car?" Will stared at Willow. "I don’t have a car. How come you have a car?"

"Actually, it’s my parents’ car." Willow explained. Turning to Rupert, she said "It’s a station wagon, so I can get at least four, maybe five people in it."

"All right then, why don’t you take Cordelia, Oz, Buffy, and Angel. I’ll take the others."

"Do you have a safe place for me to stay?" Angel asked, hating to remind them of his predicament.

"Oh..... uh..... I can’t think of anything." Rupert admitted. "Willow?"

"Mr. O’Leary’s bomb shelter." she replied almost immediately. "It’s just a few doors down and the lock shouldn’t be a problem."

"Good thinking." Rupert smiled at her.

"What about the weapons?" Buffy asked.

"We’ll leave them here for now." Rupert instructed. "We can come back for them tomorrow afternoon." After this was agreed upon, they all trooped out to the parking lot and squeezed into the two cars. A short while later, they all entered the apartment and, while Rupert, Willow, and Cordelia moved further into the main room, the others stood just inside the door staring. Cordelia spent a moment being amused at her friends’ confusion, then remembered something important.

"Listen, I didn’t tell them about.... you know." she said quietly to Willow. Willow looked puzzled for a moment, then realized what the cheerleader was talking about.

"Thanks." she smiled. "I think it would be kind of hard to explain... Oh!" she gasped and ran to the phone.

"What are you doing?" Rupert asked.

"I’m going to leave a message on Oz’s machine." she explained while dialing. "He was going to drop Larry off then come back to the library. There’s no point in that now, is there?"

"Good idea." Rupert agreed.

:"Yeah, what would we call him?" Xander joked. "Ozma?"

"Ha ha." Oz glowered.

"Well, we could always use your real name." Will giggled.

"That’s quite all right, thank you." Oz turned the dirty look on her, but she merely smiled sweetly at him. Through all this, Willow had left her message and began taking coats and ushering people in.

"Hey, Willow. Isn’t that your computer?" Xander asked, gesturing at the unit.

"Yes. I take it Cordelia didn’t tell you about my parents?"

"Your parents?" Buffy was confused. "Oh. The Master got them?"

"No, actually. They were out of town the night the Barrier went up. They couldn’t come back, so I moved in here."

"What is this Barrier?" Giles asked. "I didn’t see anything on the way over."

"You can’t see it at night." Rupert explained, heading for the kitchen. "Does anyone want anything to drink?"

"I know I could use a brandy." Giles muttered.

"Scotch, if you have it." Angel said. When Rupert glanced at him skeptically, he grinned. "Don’t worry, I’m well above the age limit."

"I’d like some tea, please." Cordelia said. Nodding, Willow joined Rupert in the kitchen.

"Ooo! Tea sounds good." Will said.

"Tea. Calming, Soothing. A definite must." Buffy added. :"Count me in."

"I’ll take a martini." Xander called out. When all eyes turned on him, he relented. "Or a glass of ice water. Your call."

"I’m good." Oz declared. While Willow and Rupert fixed drink orders, the others set about clearing books off the couch and chairs and arranging themselves. Finally, when everyone was provided with the beverage of choice, they got down to business. Rupert produced the necklace and they began searching for ways to destroy it and to close the Hellmouth before the magician’s spell wore off.

*****

Rupert was sitting on the floor by the coffee table. He had just finished a particularly boring treatise on demonology and spent a few minutes resting his eyes and examining his guests.

Buffy sat directly to his left in one of the armchairs. Even though she physically resembled the Buffy Summers he had met several months ago, he would never mistake this Slayer for that one. There were some obvious differences–this girl’s hair was shorter, her clothes were trendier, and she had no obvious scars. However, there were some other, more subtle differences that intrigued Rupert. This Buffy was much more at ease with her life and duties as a Slayer. She wasn’t jaded or cynical and Rupert suspected that this had something to do with the support she obviously received from the others. Her movements indicated that she had a great deal more training than the deceased Slayer and this, combined with the fact that she was still breathing, led Rupert to realize that her Watcher must have played a vital part in her training and in her survival. Somehow, this made him feel vindicated in his struggles against the Council. Willow had been right–Watcher were Called, not elected.

Rupert then turned his gaze to the tall, dark vampire who was squatting on the other side of the chair, talking softly to the Slayer. He still wasn’t quite sure how he felt about having a vampire in his house–he had even forgotten Angel’s "special condition" until the vampire had bounced off the invisible wall that barred him from entering the apartment. After assurances from all sides (except, curiously, from Giles), Rupert had no fear of trouble, but still, it was a bit odd.....

Xander was sitting on one end of the couch, trying hard not to fall asleep. Giles studied the youth, wondering what Willow had ever seen in him. Rupert supposed it had a good deal to do with the fact that Willow had always been incredibly intelligent and exceedingly shy–a lethal combination in most social circles. Xander’s personality and what passed for his sense of humor probably eliminated him from those same circles. It was probably natural for the two outcasts to bond together. However, now that he really thought about it, Rupert couldn’t see them in a romantic relationship. This eased his mind somewhat and he continued with his observations.

Oz sat next to Xander, occasionally sneaking glances at his girlfriend. This Oz seemed almost exactly the same as the Oz Rupert knew. Same mannerisms and tendency to only speak when necessary, same ability to cut right to the heart of the matter, same passion, bordering on obsession, for his love. Rupert smiled, glad that some things hadn’t changed in the Slayer’s absence.

His gaze fell next on Will. He still couldn’t get over how *different* she was from his Willow. This was definitely proof of how much of a difference Buffy Summers had made in Sunnydale. This girl–for she was still a girl–still retained much of the innocence and naivete that his Willow had displayed when he had first met her. She also had obviously not undergone the same rigorous training as Buffy. Rupert also suspected that, underneath the veneer of confidence, she still had a lot of self esteem issues to work out. Rupert’s gaze skimmed over Cordelia, until finally he was looking at Buffy Summers’ Watcher–his double. He idly wondered what the man was thinking at that moment.

******

Giles saw Rupert looking at him and wondered what the man was thinking. He took the opportunity to examine the ex-Watcher and to make some mental notes. The man was dressed more casually than Giles, but Giles supposed that was a function of not having to act as a role model for a Slayer. He envied Rupert that fact–it was obvious that he and Willow acted as partners, rather than as mentor/protegee. Rupert seemed to be much more relaxed and less concerned with others’ perceptions of him. Giles suspected that the circumstances had required Rupert to tap into a place inside himself that Giles usually kept under lock and key–namely that aspect of himself which he referred to as "Ripper." After all, the man bore much of the responsibility for protecting the citizens of Sunnydale and, probably, much of the guilt for the death and destruction that he hadn’t been able to prevent. Giles’ envy turned to compassion as he tried to imagine the burden that Rupert had been forced to carry.

He turned his head slightly to look at Willow, who was seated on the floor next to Rupert. He felt both incredible pity and overwhelming admiration for the girl–after all, she had been thrust into a seemingly impossible situation and had handled herself with grace and dignity. It was obvious that she was well trained, and that she had gained a level of confidence that Will had yet to achieve. However, it was also clear that she had retained her zest for life, her thirst for knowledge, and that certain, special quality that made her Willow. As she turned a page, Giles noticed the flash of gold on the ring finger of her right hand. Curious, he took a closer look and gasped.

"Where did you get that ring?" he blurted it out before he could stop himself.

"What?" Willow looked at him in confusion, as did the others.

"That ring." he pointed to it. "I have one exactly like it. It’s been in my family for generations and it’s only used for..... oh!" His mouth snapped shut as he realized what must have happened. His suspicions were confirmed when Willow began to blush furiously and Rupert glared at him, daring him to say anything critical.

"Oh no." Cordelia groaned. "Maybe I should have told them....." her voice trailed off as her friends stared at her.

"Told us what?" Xander asked. Oz, Angel and Buffy figured it out at about the same time. Buffy gasped, and Oz arched an eyebrow, while Angel merely nodded in understanding. Cordelia turned and whispered into Will’s ear, causing the other girl to blush furiously.

"Told us what?" Xander repeated, still clueless. Angel whispered into his ear, then clapped his hand over the boy’s mouth before he could comment.

"Yes.... well....." Rupert stammered. Willow looked at him and realized it was up to her to change the subject before things got out of hand.

"If anyone’s interested," she said, in a surprisingly casual tone "I think I may have found something interesting." She went on to outline a plan for ensuring that no demons would come through the Hellmouth once the mage was destroyed. Angel then announced that he had discovered how to destroy the necklace. This was done by the simple method of pounding it with a hammer until the stone fell out of its setting. The group then settled down to the task of devising a strategy for the upcoming battle. Finally, Rupert suggested that they get some sleep.

"At least tomorrow is Saturday." Will muttered. "We can sleep late."

"Gotta love weekends." Buffy agreed.

"Sleeping arrangements?" Rupert said, looking quizzically at Willow. He wasn’t sure how to handle things.

"The guys will stay down here, the girls will go in the guest room." she said, looking directly at him. He understood her meaning and nodded slowly. Now that the others knew of their relationship, there was no need to rearrange their lives just to keep up appearances.

"Good." he nodded. "I’ll start cleaning up here. Why don’t you see what you can dig up in the way of sheets and blankets." Willow stood and stretched, then gestured towards Cordelia.

"Will you come help me, please?"

"Sure." The cheerleader followed her, leaving the others to wonder at the camaraderie between them.

"Wow! She’s never been that nice to me." Will mused.

"They became close when Cordelia was here last." Rupert shrugged as he began to collect mugs and glasses. Glancing at his watch, he looked at Angel. "You’d better get going. Sunrise is in half an hour. Do you need me to show you the way?"

"No thanks. Willow gave me directions." the vampire replied. "I’ll meet you at the library right after sundown?"

"Good idea. Be careful, though." Rupert admonished him. "I doubt the Master would look kindly on you."

"Too true." Angel chuckled. He squeezed Buffy’s hand, then left. A few minutes later, Cordelia and Willow returned laden down with two sleeping bags and some sheets and blankets.

"Did Angel leave?" Willow asked, looking around for the vampire.

"Yes. It’s sunrise soon." Rupert replied.

"I’m exhausted." Cordelia said, punctuating her statement with a yawn.

"It’s definitely bed time for Xander." Buffy grinned at her friend who was having a great deal of time keeping his eyes open.

"Come on, ladies. I’ll show you to your accommodations." Willow gestured for them to follow her. "I hope that two of you don’t mind sharing a bed."

:"If they do, I’d be happy to trade with someone." Xander quipped as he stood and began to clear the floor. Willow ignored him and led the girls upstairs and into the second bedroom. Giles and Xander saw her come back down the hall and enter the room at the top of the stairs. Rupert helped the guys get settled, then went upstairs, entered the same room and softly closed the door behind him.

"Giles, you dog!" Xander teased the Watcher. "I had no idea you had a thing for redheads....ow!" he yelped as both Oz and Giles hit him with pillows.

******

Rupert was the first to wake up shortly after noon. Careful not to disturb Willow, he got up and hopped into the shower. He realized with a sudden rush of relief, how lucky he was that the master bedroom had a private bath. He didn’t relish the idea of having to share his facilities with eight other people. When he was dressed, he tiptoed downstairs and began to make a pot of coffee. Giles, who had commandeered the couch, over Xander’s vociferous objections, heard him and padded into the kitchen.

"Morning." Rupert said, offering the other man a cup of coffee. "Sleep well."

"Yes." Giles nodded. "I always liked that couch." he grinned. Rupert chuckled and gestured to the table. The two men sat, but kept their voices low to avoid waking the boys.

"Come on." Rupert said. "I know you’re dying to ask....."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yes. Go ahead."

"*Willow*?" Giles shook his head in disbelief. "I don’t mean to be judgmental, but really...."

"How do I justify sleeping with a girl half my age? Believe me I’ve thought about all this before. She’s my student, she’s underage, if we’re caught, I’ll lose my job and probably get sent to jail...." Rupert paused and took a sip. "To be honest, none of that really matters."

"Well it should." Giles said indignantly.

"I guess it’s hard for you to understand." Rupert sighed. "But here, those things seem.... well, immaterial. I mean, we’re just breaking one more law, disregarding one more social taboo...."

"But why? Why put yourself in that much danger?"

"Because I love her." Rupert said simply. "And in a world where vampires roam the streets at night and a magic wall keeps us trapped here, it seems silly–stupid even–to deny that just because some law says that a girl of 17 isn’t old enough to make up her own mind about who she wants to sleep with."

"But the law exists to protect those girls from....." Giles stopped abruptly.

"From someone taking advantage of their youth and innocence?" Rupert arched an eyebrow. "Do you really think that’s what I’m doing?"

"No, of course not. But...."

"More importantly, you know Willow." Rupert held up his hand to prevent an interruption. "I realize that Willow and Will seem quite different, but that is primarily a result of their different experiences. Underneath all that, they’re still basically the same person, right?"

"I suppose."

"Well do you really think that your Will would let someone talk her into doing something she wasn’t good and ready for?"

"No." Giles conceded.

"Believe me, this wasn’t in my original plan. I came to Sunnydale to Watch a Slayer who never showed up. I met Willow the first night I was in town and she insisted on volunteering to help." Giles grinned as he remembered his first meeting with Will, almost two years ago. He quickly returned his attention to Rupert’s story. "I began training her and after a while we became partners. When I realized I was falling in love with her, I tried to do the right thing... I never planned on telling her. But then, one night I got drunk and.... well, I suppose you know what that’s like."

"Yes, I do." Giles winced, remembering some of the things he’d said and done under the influence of alcohol.

"Anyway, once the dust settled from that little escapade, we realized that there was really no reason *not* to be together. We have to be careful not to be caught, but neither of us could see any good reason to deny what we both felt."

Giles thought about this for a minute. "Well, then I’m happy for you." he finally said. "Shocked, but happy." Rupert merely grinned and took another swig of his coffee.

******

When Willow woke, Rupert had already gone downstairs. She took a quick shower, dressed, and went into the spare bedroom to check on the other girls. She was rather surprised to see that they were all up.

"Come on in." Buffy said. "Cordelia was just filling us in on some of your adventures."

"Oh really." Willow smirked. "I’ll bet I know which ones...."

"*Giles*?" Will squeaked, still unable to get past the concept. "You’re with *Giles?*?

"I know, I know." Willow said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "It’s hard to believe. Heck, I have trouble with it myself sometimes."

"But he’s *Giles*." Will protested.

"What she means" Buffy said "is that he’s twice your age, your teacher, and one of the more stuffy beings on the planet."

"But Rupert isn’t stuffy." Willow protested. "He’s intelligent and refined, sure, but not stuffy."

"Please!" Buffy scoffed. "The man thinks cross-referencing is fun."

"So what?" Willow shrugged. "I like him."

"That’s obvious." Cordelia grinned.

"But why?" Buffy blurted out. "I mean, if you don’t mind my asking." she added, hastily.

"Because he’s incredibly intelligent and brave.... and he’s the first adult who hasn’t treated me like a freak of nature or some precocious little kid. He’s sensitive and sexy...."

"There’s a word I don’t think I’ve ever associated with him." Buffy muttered.

"Look, the point is that I love him. I can’t really explain why or how...." Willow’s eyes pleaded for understanding.

"I got it." Buffy smiled, thinking of Angel. "You love him no matter what and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it."

"Exactly." The two girls shared a moment of camaraderie, which was interrupted by Will.

"But.... but.... *Giles?*"

*****

The afternoon passed quietly. The girls finally came down, waking the boys. Willow and Rupert, with some help from Giles, prepared a sumptuous feast, then Willow, with the other teens in tow, went to the grocery store to replenish the food supplies. Shortly before sundown, they made their way to the library where they began to unpack the bags and examine the few weapons in the storage cabinet. Angel arrived shortly after sundown and they agreed to leave for the factory at nine.

Xander was standing next to Willow and Angel at the table, examining a bunch of weapons, when he finally decided to address an issue that had been bothering him for some time.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" he said, accusingly.

"Like what?" she asked, innocently.

"Like I have two heads or something."

"I’m sorry." she sighed. "I can’t help it. Every time you get near me I just want to stick a stake into your chest." They were both surprised when Angel began to snicker.

"What’s so funny?" Xander glared at the vampire.

"Now you know how it feels." Angel said, grinning. "Dead-boy." This last comment made Angel laugh and Xander scowl, while Willow looked at both them, completely confused.

"Am I missing something here?" she asked finally.

"Long story." Angel replied. "Let’s just say that I’ve wanted to do that for a very long time." Still chuckling, he wandered off towards the cage, where Buffy was critically eyeing a crossbow.

******

The small group stood in the shadows outside the factory, waiting for Angel to return from a scouting mission.

"What do you think?" Buffy nervously asked her Watcher.

"We knew that this wasn’t going to be easy." he said. "They certainly have numbers and superior strength on their side."

"But I’m as strong as any vampire." Buffy protested. "Why should that be an advantage?"

"Buffy," Will admonished. "You may be as strong as a vampire, but I’m not. Neither is Xander or Oz, or Cordy...."

"Or me." chimed in Willow.

"Oh come on, Willow." Buffy scoffed. "I’ve seen you fight...."

"That’s brains, not brawn." Willow replied. "I can take out most fledgelings because they usually don’t have any training. But when I come up against a vampire with some experience, like Xander...."

"Hey!" Xander was pleased. "You mean I kick butt as a vampire?"

"I don’t think that’s something you should be proud of, Xander." Giles admonished the teen. Any further conversation was interrupted by Angel’s return. The vampire wore a look of disgust.

"The Master has some gizmo rigged up to drain humans of their blood." he spat out. "He’s got a bunch of teenagers locked in a cage..... including Oz." he added, looking at Willow and Rupert. Rupert swore and Willow got a grim look on her face.

"So what are we waiting for?" she asked. "Everyone know what they’re supposed to do?" The others nodded. "Then let’s go."

*****

The Master looked over the crowd, most of whom were fledgelings, and grinned. Since his emergence from his underground prison, he had turned countless numbers, but few had survived more than a few days. That ex-Watcher and his little band had seen to that. After tonight, however, they would be easily dealt with. The Master smiled as all sorts of delicious possibilities ran through his brain.

"We’re ready." The deferential voice at his elbow belonged to one of the few who had been with him since the beginning. The Master studied his favorite and was pleased. He had no idea what Xander Harris had been like in life, but in undeath, he was a ruthless killer with a quick wit. He was a skilled fighter and quite creative when it came to matters of interrogation, persuasion, and punishment. His one flaw was his obsession with turning the little red-headed girl. The Master had long since decided that she was going to live out the rest of her very short life as an example to the rest of the citizens of Sunnydale. She did not deserve the gift of immortality. He just had to make sure that his minion didn’t decide to take matters into his own hands.

"Sir?" The youth’s voice broke into his reverie. The Master nodded and Xander pressed a large button. The large machine to their right burst into life and the crowd uttered appreciative oohs and aahs. The Master smiled at his children, basking in their love, respect, and fear. He was so busy accepting their adulation that he didn’t notice the new arrivals at first. The screams and clouds of ash rising from the back of the crowd were the first indications that something had gone horribly wrong.

"What is going on?" he growled to an associate who was standing by his elbow.

"I’m not sure, Sire." the fledgeling said, trying to see over the heads of the crowd.

"Bring me Oxan." the Master instructed. The fledge nodded and ran towards the back door. Unbeknownst to the Master, he was intercepted by two teens with crossbows. Meanwhile, as the fight came closer to the platform on which he stood, the Master began to get some sort of indication of who was attacking him. He could see the little red-head and her protector, the Librarian. Shouting from the cage caught his attention and he watched in horror as a tall man dressed in black easily broke the lock and freed the prisoners.

"Stop them!" he screamed. Several more clouds of ash rose from the crowd and some of his children were actually trying to run away. The tall man had released the prisoners and was talking to one of the red-head’s little friends. The kid nodded and took a piece of wood in hand and joined in the melee. The tall man turned then, and the Master found himself looking in the face of a dead vampire.

"Hey, I thought we...." Xander started.

"We did. Go get the little red-head. *Don’t* kill her, I need to know what’s happening." the Master ordered. Xander nodded grimly and jumped off the platform heading for his greatest obsession.

******

Will and Xander had come in through a second story window, aided by a ladder Angel had found behind the building. They were now creeping along a rickety catwalk that ran all the way around the building. They could see everything that was happening down below and saw Cordelia and Oz dust the vampire who was trying to sneak out.

"Idiots!" Xander muttered. "He was probably going to get the mage."

Will nodded in agreement and pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Witch to Wolf. Come in Wolf."

"This is Wolf. You okay, Witch?"

"Yeah, we’re in position, but you and Prom Queen just dusted the messenger." They both grinned when they heard their friends curse softly.

"What do we do?" Oz asked.

"Let the next one get out. Hide until he leaves, then seal the exit."

"Got it. Wolf out."

*****

"Where is Charles?" the Master asked, impatiently. "He should have brought Oxan to me by now." He turned to another fledgeling. "Go get them." he ordered. The fledge nodded and went out the back door. He didn’t notice the two humans hiding in the shadows.

*****

"Wolf to Witch. The messenger has left."

*****

"How you doing, Red?" Angel asked as he and Willow came across one another in the middle of the fight.

"Never better." she grinned as she dusted a vamp who was about to hit Angel over the head. "You?"

"Peachy keen." he smiled. "Would you mind ducking.... now!" She did as she was told and he drove a stake into the heart of a vampire who was behind her.

"Witch to Red. Witch to Red." the walkie-talkie at her hip squawked.

"Watch my back?" Willow asked Angel. He nodded and she pulled the device out. "This is Red."

"We’re in position and the messenger has been sent." Angel tapped Willow and jerked his head towards the podium. Through the swarm of bodies, Willow saw Xander leap off the podium and head towards her position.

"Good. Cool-Boy’s on his way now. Red out." She put the walkie-talkie back on her belt and made sure to cover it with her jacket. She and Angel went back to the fight and Angel deliberately separated himself from Willow and headed towards Rupert. This wasn’t strictly part of the plan, but he and Giles had deemed it necessary that someone keep watch over Rupert during this crucial stage.

******

"Wolf to Witch."

"Witch here."

"The package just arrived."

"Great. Alert the others. It’s show-time."

*****

"Wolf to Ripper." Giles heard the walkie-talkie squawk and mentally cursed himself for letting Xander come up with the handles for that evening.

"Ripper here." he sighed.

"Show time. Is Goldie in position?"

"Yes. Does Cool-Boy have Red?"

"Almost. And from what I can tell, Book Man isn’t too happy about it."

"Don’t worry. I’ve got Dead Boy on him. Is Prom Queen ready?"

"Yeah. We’re good."

"All right. We go on Red’s signal."

"Right. Wolf out."

******

Xander the vampire and Willow the "Pseudo-Slayer" met in the middle of the factory floor. As soon as they began fighting, bodies–both vampire and human–started trying desperately trying to get away. The fight was fast and furious, but eventually, Willow lost her stake and was grabbed in a chicken-wing hold by Xander.

"The Master wants to talk to you." he growled, shoving her towards the platform.

******

Rupert saw vampire-Xander grab Willow and instinctively moved to help her, but was stopped by a firm, yet gentle hand on his shoulder.

"She’ll be okay." Angel whispered in his ear, then vanished once more into the fray. Rupert didn’t know why, but he trusted the vampire. He quickly scanned the factory. The ranks had thinned out considerably, thanks to the efforts of himself, Willow, Angel, and the newly freed Oz. Just then, the youth came up beside him.

"Okay, the guy in black says you have a plan."

"We do." Rupert nodded and handed him a crossbow and another stake.

"What can I do to help?"

"Kill as many vampires as you can." Rupert instructed. "Stay away from the ones on the platform, though."

"But they’ve got Willow." the teen protested.

"All part of the plan." Rupert said this to reassure both Oz and himself.

******

"Willow." The Master smiled and drew the name out, enjoying the feel of it. The girl stared back at him, not a trace of fear on her face. He waited for her to respond, but when she said nothing, he continued. "Perhaps you’d care to explain what is happening here?"

"I would think that even you could figure it out." she replied, her voice even. "We’re shutting your little factory down."

The Master laughed. "Who is we, exactly? You and that silly librarian you call a Watcher? Oh yes, there is the matter of Angel. Now, if I recall correctly, I killed him several months ago at about the same time I killed the Slayer. Yet there he stands. Perhaps you can enlighten me as to how that is possible?"

"You screwed up?" Willow was looking directly into the Master’s eyes and didn’t flinch when he raised his hand to slap her. He grinned and slowly lowered his hand.

"Perhaps Xander was right after all. You would make an excellent addition to our ranks."

"Let me turn her, Master." Xander was practically begging.

"I wouldn’t if I were you." Willow said, conversationally.

"And why not?" the Master asked, idly playing with a lock of her hair.

"Because I drank about fifteen glasses of holy water before coming here." she responded. The Master brushed his fingers over her lips and cursed as they began to burn.

"She’s right." he hissed. Seizing Willow by the throat, he began to shout. "Tell me what I want to know." Just then, a hooded figure climbed, with some difficulty onto the podium. "Ah, Oxan." the Master smiled, his voice calm again. "Perhaps you can be of some assistance here."

"Now!" Willow screamed.

*******

By this time, the floor was pretty clear, so Buffy had a good view of the platform when she burst through the doors, Giles right behind her. They were quickly joined by Angel, Rupert, and someone who looked an awful lot like Oz. The Master didn’t see them at first, giving them time to finish off the few remaining vampires on the floor.

"I count ten on the platform, not counting Willow." Buffy murmured.

"Agreed. I would guess that the figure in the cloak is our mage." Giles said, equally quiet.

"Why doesn’t he just wear a big ol’ sign?" Buffy asked. They began to grimly make their way towards their targets. Just then, the Master caught sight of them.

"I killed you." he growled.

"Likewise." Buffy said cheerfully. "Can’t wait to do it again."

"Oxan!" The mage raised his hands and a ball of light flew towards the small group.

*******

"Now!" Xander hissed in Will’s ear.

"Not yet." she said, irritated. "And shut up!" She was staring intently at Buffy and the others, who were standing stock still, while the ball of light flew at them. Just as it was about to hit the Slayer, Will stretched out her hand and let the power flow through her. The light suddenly seemed to bounce off an invisible wall. It flew off course and hit the strange machine, blowing it into a million pieces. The Master screamed and the others looked around wildly for the source of this new power. In his rage, the Master let Willow go and she wasted no time in jumping down to join the group on the floor.

In all the confusion, only Xander saw the vampire version of himself look up.

"Oh shit." he murmured. "We got trouble, Will." This wasn’t part of the plan.

"You deal with it." she hissed. "I have to concentrate." Already, Oxan was gearing up to throw another ball of light at his enemies.

********

"Okay, Cordy." Oz said, quietly. "The guy seems pretty intent on blowing Buffy to Kingdom Come. You can go now."

"Right. Pray this works." Cordelia hefted a small bag in her hands and began to creep up behind the mage.

******

Vampire Xander spotted the small form on the catwalk. All he could really see was a flash of red hair, which he found intriguing, since it was the exact same shade as Willow’s. He got a good running start and jumped. Grabbing on to the railing of the catwalk, he vaulted over it easily. He found himself standing a few feet away from an exact replica of Willow, only with shorter hair and without the scar. Her attention was completely focused on deflecting Oxan’s light-balls, so she had no idea how close she was to dying. Vampire-Xander grinned and stepped forward. He was so preoccupied with the girl that he didn’t notice the form step out of the shadows and raise its arm until it was too late. He was startled when he felt something slam into his chest and he raised his head in surprise. The last thing the demon saw before he exploded into ash, was his own face.

******

"Get them!" The Master screamed. The remaining vampires jumped off the platform and began to fight with the small band below. These were not fledges–they were well trained, experienced warriors. Despite this, the small band made short work of them. Will kept deflecting all the magic weapons that Oxan threw at them, while Cordelia continued to creep closer and closer to him. Meanwhile, Oz was slowly working his way around to the mage’s side. When he saw that Cordelia was in position, he screamed "Now!"

******

Oxan had been gearing up to throw another bolt at the Slayer and her little friends, but was distracted by the shouts coming from his left. He threw the bolt at the boy, instead and them several things happened at once. He felt something soft hit him in the back and smelled the distinctive odor of spell components. He then realized that he was incapable of moving. Finally, he saw his ball of light bounce off the invisible wall that had been protecting the Slayer. Only, instead of flying off into the shadows, the ball came right back at him. The spell packet that Cordelia had hit him with rendered him immobile. Before he could do anything, he was engulfed by the light.

******

"Got him!" Will cheered.

*****

"All right, Will!" Buffy yelled. Turning her attention back to the Master, she said "Gee. It looks like all your little friends have left the party."

"Oh, really?" he grinned and gestured with his hands. More vampires streamed out of the shadows, where they had been hiding since the fight began. They quickly engaged the small group, while the Master jumped down and began to fight with the Slayer.

The fight was fast and fuious. The opponents were evenly matched, but the Master was lucky. He managed to kick Buffy in the solar plexus, sending her flying backwards. She recovered quickly, but the Master was ready for her. He grabbed her collar and threw her aside. She landed on her stomach and scrambled to her hands and knees. The Master kicked her in the ribs, sending her sprawling again. She rolled onto her side just in time to see the Master pull out a knife. He leaned over and grabbed her hair with one hand, pinning her body with his knee. Their eyes locked as the knife plunged downwards towards her face. Buffy saw the expression of triumph on his face just before his body exploded in a cloud of ash. Willow was standing behind him, holding a stake and shaking her head.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." she muttered. "He wasn’t paying attention. You okay?"

"Uh, yeah. I’m fine." Buffy said, shakily. "Uh, Willow?"

"Yeah?" the other girl said, then suddenly pivoted and staked a vampire who was trying to sneak up alongside her.

"Never mind." the Slayer said. The red-head extended her hand and helped the blonde stand. The remaining vampires were easily dusted, once Cordelia, Oz, Will, and Xander joined the fight. When they were done, they assessed the damage and were pleasantly surprised. Aside from assorted cuts and contusions, the worst injuries were a couple of cracked ribs (Will) and a broken wrist (Giles).

"Let’s get back to the library and finish this." Rupert said. They had put a temporary shield over the Hellmouth, but it wouldn’t last very long.

******

"God, I’m tired." Willow sighed as she collapsed into a chair. She, Rupert, Giles, and Will had just finished closing the Hellmouth permanently.

"Hear! Hear!" Xander echoed.

"What do you have to complain about?" Cordelia asked, glaring at him. "You didn’t do anything."

"I killed myself." Xander announced, proudly. This, of course, earned him some rather confused looks. He launched into a vivid description of confronting the vampire version of himself, embellishing significantly. When he was done, everyone looked to Will for confirmation.

"Hey, don’t look at me." she said, quickly. "I wasn’t exactly paying attention." Xander grinned, but his expression became pained when she added "Although, if that’s what really happened, I think I would have noticed *something*."

"What time is it?" Buffy asked, suddenly.

"Three thirty." Rupert said. "We’d better do this before sunrise." Grumbling, Will stood up and joined him. They began to chant softly, while the others grabbed the re-packed duffel bags and weapons and prepared for the journey home.

"So will it be Saturday or Sunday morning when we get home?" Cordelia asked.

"It should be late Friday night." Giles replied. "There was only a few seconds lag on our side the last time."

"Cool!" Xander said. "An extra weekend day."

"I know I’m going to need it." Buffy said. That was the last thing Will and Rupert heard before the portal swallowed up their new friends and transported them back to their own world.

When the portal was finally closed, they took a few minutes to ensure that the Hellmouth was well and truly closed. By the time they left the school, the sun had risen. Willow looked up at the sky and gasped.

"Rupert, look!" she gasped. "The Barrier is gone! We really did it!" The next few minutes were spent whooping and jumping up and down. Finally, they calmed down enough to get themselves back to their apartment. Once they got there, they stood outside for a few minutes, simply staring at the sky.

"Do you think people will remember what happened?" Willow asked, leaning back against Rupert’s chest.

"Probably not." he sighed. "They will probably remember that something’s kept them here for the past year, but they won’t remember specifics."

"You know, my parents are going to come back, now...... well, probably." Willow said, quietly.

Rupert wrapped his arms around her, careful not to press against her injured ribs. "Whatever happens, you know I love you, right?"

"Yes. I know." she smiled. "I love you, too."

"So we can face whatever comes. Whatever it takes, right?" He held his hand out and she placed her palm against it.

"Right."

THE END