There is indeed such a thing as destiny. We are all fated to a certain end. What we have a choice of is how we get there. There are an infinite number of paths, all leading to the same place. They converge at certain points along the way and then branch off again. Some of them are lined with joys and triumphs, others with pain and regret.

By the end of his second year in Sunnydale, Giles had more regrets than he could bear.

When he had returned to the Council in his early twenties, Giles had vowed that he would make amends for what he had done. He would do what he was supposed to, rather than the opposite. He would fight evil rather than court it. He would help save lives, not help end them. Everything about his rebellion became abhorrent to him. From then on he would strive to be stalwart and true; a true hero.

By the end of his second year in Sunnydale, Giles was breaking under the weight of his failure. Jenny was dead and Buffy was gone. He decided to do something about it.

There was a spell that allowed one to travel back to the time one regretted most and change it. It was complicated and dark and called for infants' bones and one's own blood, but Giles got what he needed and went to the library to perform the spell at midnight. It called for precise conditions: isolation, steadiness and concentration. But Giles couldn't keep his mind still. It was filled with a tumult of "if onlies"... I hadn't left her alone... I had staked him when I had the chance... I hadn't caved in to her tricks... I had been a better person, perhaps this is all punishment for those wasted years... And then there was a wind and flashes of light that blinded him, but in his mind he could see Jenny at her computer as he said goodbye, and her kneeling before him in the mansion, and Angel pulling a crossbow bolt from his shoulder, and Randal being consumed by Eyghon. And then it was over and he was still in the library.

The spell hadn't worked. He had failed at that too.

xxx

Waiting for the bus, Buffy realized she hadn't brought any weapons with her. But she was, after all, leaving the Hellmouth, What would she need weapons for?

She was leaving the Hellmouth to go to LA. And considering her earning potential, it wasn't too likely she'd be living on the side of the hill she was used to. Weapons might actually come in handy.

Then there was the fact that being weaponless made her feel all the more helpless. She remembered to bring Mr. Gordo along, but even he wasn't as comforting to have around as a couple of stakes and a battle axe.

Buffy decided to postpone her trip a day. She couldn't go back home to her own weapons chest; there was no guarantee that her mom wouldn't be there, lying in wait. She had told Buffy to not even think about coming back, and Buffy didn't intend to. Instead she would go to the library. She'd break in during the night, when no one would be there, and take a few things from the book cage.

With this plan in mind, Buffy spent the day at the coffee shop next to the bus terminal, staring out the window and trying not to think of Angel.

Buffy knew that it wasn't unusual for Giles to hang around the library long after the school had closed, so it was midnight by the time she broke in through the stacks. She didn't bother being quiet because she didn't think anyone would be around, and even if they were, she could take them on.

But someone was around. As she neared the main library Buffy saw that it was filled with sparks and flashing lights. It was like there was a strobe light going, it gave her a headache. There were voices yelling, but Buffy couldn't make them out, they were drowned by a high-pitched wind. She crept carefully forward and was surprised to see Giles sitting cross-legged on the floor. She didn't have time to think about what he was doing before she was distracted by the ghostly images that were circling around him. There was Angel, and Ms. Calendar, and the monster Buffy recognized as Eyghon. She stumbled backwards as that one swooped down at her, but she couldn't escape it.

She felt like she was hit by a truck.

It was daytime, and Buffy was in a run-down part of town. It wasn't a town she recognized though. The buildings were older than any she had seen before. They seemed so close together, and the streets so narrow. Buffy was only starting to notice the clothes and to marvel at their ugliness (the retro look seemed to be big here, wherever "here" was) when she heard a vaguely familiar voice behind her.

"Did you see his face? He was totally freaking out."

Buffy turned around and saw two young men, in about their early twenties coming towards her. They were wearing torn jeans and grungy T-shirts and both looked familiar in a weird way.

"Almost made it worth the trouble," the slightly shorter one continued saying. He had a long nose and beady eyes. Right away, Buffy knew she didn't like him.

"You don't know what you're talking about, this is worth all that trouble and more," the other one said, holding up an old, leather-bound book.

Buffy stared at him; he couldn't possibly be who she thought he was.

"You think LSD is a trip, wait 'til you try what's in here."

The first one shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. You're the watcher."

"Don't call me that," he growled. Then he noticed the blonde gawking at him and did a double-take. He looked her over and smiled a little. He was just about to say something, but she spoke first.

"Oh my God," she said, looking absolutely shocked. "Giles?"