Disclaimer: The Only character I lay claim to is Angelika. All other characters are not mine. I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement and hopefully the amusement of others.

Prologue

Otherworldly Dimension

He was being watched; it was a very disconcerting feeling, but soon he would take care of her. The days and nights had been long and filled with nothing but practice. His magical abilities had grown and now he was ready to face his enemies once more.

The woman had been watching him ever since he had first made his appearance and that had been several months ago. As the days went by she noticed several changes that the man had undergone. Now he was cloaked all in black and his powers had grown exponentially. He was perfect. Now all she had to do was approach him and use her powers of persuasion.

"I can see into your dreams." He could feel the voice whisper soft as it was carried on the wind. He jerked fully awake now and ran out of the tent.

The woman was standing there, a smile tugging at her lips. He cursed himself for letting his guard down, then narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Who are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter." She glided towards him. Tilting her head to the side, she regarded his cold expression with mild amusement. "I can sense your anger and frustration. You want to take the Slayer from her Watcher," She motioned to the desolate land around them, "but here you will not succeed."

She knew far too much, he realized. He couldn't allow her to disrupt his plans. He shot his arm out, his fist tightly clenched. He noticed with satisfaction that she was having a hard time breathing. He slowly inched closer, before releasing his metaphysical hold on her. "Let's try this again, shall we?" His grin widened as she gulped in breathfuls of oxygen.

She glared at him and stood unsteadily to her feet. "You may call me Eliza." She rubbed her neck, before whispering a few words. He could not get the drop on her again. That was foolish on her part. "And together we can leave this wretched dimension behind." Her smile grew as she saw his eyes narrow in suspicion.

"Why would you help me?"

She shrugged her shoulders lightly, "Let's just say that I have some unfinished business of my own."

Sunnydale

Rupert Giles jerked awake as the phone rang, his heart pounding in his chest and the sweat cascading off his forehead. Reaching out blindly, he grasped the phone, silently urging his breathing to return to normal. When he felt some semblance of control, he answered the phone.

"Giles?" She sounded so sad that his heart nearly broke. Joyce had steadfastly refused to acknowledge their relationship as anything but a passing phase, and it was slowly killing what little happiness Buffy seemed to find.

"Buffy? What…um…" he cleared his throat before continuing, "is something wrong?"

His cheeks tinged with slight embarrassment as she chuckled softly, "I just…I miss you."

He smiled. Hearing her voice was just what he needed to chase the restages of his nightmare away. "I miss you as well. Would you care to come by for training tomorrow? And perhaps dinner before patrol?"

"I would." She smiled when she heard him change positions. "Did I wake you?"

"No, well…yes, but…" He sighed, "I'm glad you called."

"Nightmare?"

Of course she would know. He cursed silently before replying, "It's just a d-dream, B-Buffy. No need to worry."

Buffy smiled when she heard the slight stutter. She always found it adorable when he stuttered, but that also told her that the problem was more serious than he let on. "Giles, that's like the third nightmare you've had this week." She pointed out gently.

"I know." He spoke so quietly that Buffy couldn't be sure if she had heard him at all. He cleared his throat before continuing louder, "They're just dreams, Buffy. I…"

"Giles?" Buffy interrupted, "Do you love me?"

He sucked in a sharp breath, "You know I do. More than anything."

"Then let me help you. Please?" She prayed silently, hoping Giles wouldn't push her away as he had in the past. When he didn't speak right away, she changed the topic hoping to slip under his guard. "Can I stay with you tomorrow night?" Maybe if she was there, he would talk to her. She had to do something. He wouldn't last much longer.

He chuckled slightly, "I don't think your mother would approve."

"I don't care, Giles." Buffy sighed with frustration. "I want to be in your arms, all night, every night."

"Oh, Luv." Giles sighed dreamily, "I want that as well, but I really feel we should appease your mother. For now."

"Fine." She grumbled, "But I can't do this much longer. It's getting harder for me to go home, when all I want is to stay with you." She finished on a whisper, as a tear slid down her cheek.

Her silent declaration tore at his heart until he couldn't take it anymore, all he wanted was to make her smile, therefore he didn't think twice before replying, "You can stay the night."

It was well worth it to hear her smile, which when he thought about it, didn't make much sense, but he just shrugged. That was the way of the world.

Hanging up the phone, he supposed that Snape was right. He really should confide in Buffy. She was quite possibly the only person who could understand. Thinking back, he should have seen this coming. Especially when Severus had shown up unannounced. That night would be forever etched in his memory. Giles shivered as he remembered that night.

"We need to talk."

"Sounds serious." Buffy responded to Snape's No-nonsense statement. She still found Snape to be a bit of an enigma and she wasn't sure if he could really be trusted. But Giles seemed to trust him, at least partially, and he did help them when dealing with Voldemort. That alone earned him some points in her eyes.

"Luv? Would you mind…?" Giles let the sentence drop, hoping Buffy would take the hint.

To her credit, she smiled brightly, seemingly unconcerned by his request. Or maybe it was the fact that he called her Luv; one never knew. "I should patrol anyways." Giving him a chaste kiss, she backed towards the door, keeping them in sight. "I'll see you in a couple of hours?"

Nodding his head in consent, he watched as she took off, praying that she would be safe.

Back at his apartment, Giles busied himself with making tea, while he waited for the impending news to strike. Turning to face Snape, he regarded his old friend with something akin to dread. Whatever he had to say it couldn't be good.

"She stirs." Giles paled as the implications of that statement set in

Licking his lips he responded in a whisper, "You're certain?"

"I am." He handed Giles a parchment. "It's time. You should tell your Slayer."

"I'm…I'm not sure I can." Giles couldn't bring himself to open the parchment, he just kept staring at it as if it held all the answers. Finally, tearing his eyes away, he looked up at Snape, "Severus, it happened so long ago. What if…"

"Don't." Snape snapped, grasping Giles' shoulders, "We both knew this day would come. I'll help you as best I can, but Ripper, you alone know what she's capable of…what she's after."

He did know what she was after and it scared him. The thought of losing Buffy to that darkness…to her, was a most unbearable thought and caused him great worry. How he wished he could hide her away and keep her safe, but he knew instinctively that that wouldn't be possible. Buffy could no more run than he could and that quite possible scared him even more. Taking a deep breath, he knew he had to face it. He couldn't run anymore.

"Me…" He whispered into the silence, finding himself suddenly alone.

The nightmares had started that very night.

Halliwell Manor

Piper was lying in bed next to Leo, when she felt a sense of dread. Like something was going to happen, if she went to sleep. She was about to get out of bed when her eyes drooped closed and she was fast asleep.

A light yellow glow emanated around Piper and she disappeared from the room. When she reappeared, she was in a room with white walls. There were two men and one woman standing around her. All of them were wearing white cloaks with the hoods up, covering their faces.

"Do you think this is going to work?"

"It has to." The woman, also their leader, replied. "Now, proceed to place the candles around her."

The men placed five black candles and five white candles around her body, alternating colors. Their leader opened her hands and stretched out her arms. The others, one on either side of her, followed suite and Piper's body proceeded to float up and she became suspended in mid-air. The leader, then placed a red candle over her stomach, letting it float there.

They began to chant in a foreign language, one that was older than most. The leader stopped mid-chant and raised her hands up above her head.

"Make the world not suspect

Give us the power to protect

This child's life for a time

This spell is sealed with a rhyme."

Her voice was melodic and rang true. With the last word her comrades stopped chanting. As the spell ended Piper's body glowed bright yellow, before shimmering and she disappeared in a puff of smoke. "The spell is complete."

"Yes, let's just hope it worked." The youngest agreed.

"Piper!" Phoebe could be heard yelling as she lunged behind the couch. "Where the hell are you?" She whispered, but was drowned out by the sound of a blast as a hole erupted through the couch, barely missing her crouching form.

"Leo!" Phoebe yelled out, sounding very strangled. Leo immediately responded by orbing in. Leo widened his eyes as he saw a demon launch an energy ball in his direction. Without another thought he joined Phoebe behind the couch.

"I need Piper." She hissed at him.

"Where is she?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? Just find her and fast." Leo closed his eyes and a moment later he orbed out.

Leo found her upstairs, seemingly asleep. How in the world can she sleep though all that? He vaguely wondered as he ran to her side. "Piper." He called, while touching her shoulder. When she didn't respond he leaned down to give her a gentle kiss, to which she slowly opened her eyes.

Taking in his appearance and the worried look in his eyes, she knew that something was not right and feared the worse, "What's wrong?"

"Phoebe needs you." He answered as he orbed out with Piper.

They orbed in behind what was left of the couch. "It's about time." Phoebe huffed at them.

"Sorry, Phoebes. Piper slowly raised her head up over the couch to take in the scene. The demon zeroed in on Piper and shot an energy ball at her head. She ducked, just in time. After closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and jumped up raising her hands. The demon blew up, leaving a goopy mess behind. "You know," Piper glanced at Phoebe, "You're not supposed to bring demons home with you?"

Phoebe snorted, "As if I meant to."

Glancing at Piper, Phoebe couldn't hide her concern when Piper placed her hand on her forehead as a wave of dizziness struck. Leo steadied her with ease, "What's wrong?"

"I just…" She slowly opened her eyes to see Phoebe and Leo looking at her with concern. "I'm fine, guys. Really I am." She smiled, hoping to reassure them. Of course that would be easier if she stopped having the dizzy spells.

"No, you're not." Phoebe insisted, "I'm calling Prue."

"Don't, please." Piper didn't want to get into it with her sisters. She really did feel fine and the dizziness was already passing.

Phoebe studied her sister carefully, looking for any signs of distress. Upon finding none, she glanced at Leo, only to see him shaking his head, an exasperated look on his face. Shrugging her shoulders, she relented, "Fine." Shaking her finger at Piper to get her point across she added, "But I want you to rest. Right now."

Piper looked about ready to protest when Leo gently grasped her hand, "Please, Piper. For me."

How could she resist when he was looking at her like that? "Alright." She relented. "I'll be upstairs if you need me."

Leo smiled brightly, "That's my girl." Leaning forward he gave her a kiss, before sending her upstairs.

That night at P3

Prue, Phoebe, and Leo were watching as Piper worked the bar. "Something is definitely wrong with her." Phoebe stated, in no uncertain terms. Earlier that night, Phoebe had discussed her concerns with Prue, who had remained leery. But the cincher was when Leo had tried to wake Piper, but seemed unable to do so.

He had been very distraught and worried about her. But then she opened her eyes and everything was seemingly back to normal, with no way of knowing what had really happened. Now Phoebe was really worried and Prue wasn't far behind.

"Maybe it was just a fluke." Prue remarked, "I mean, she seems fine now."

"We should still keep an eye out." Leo responded distractedly as he watched someone walk in and make a beeline to Piper.

Piper glared up and suddenly found herself face to face with Dan, her ex. Here she was married to Leo and Dan pops up. Piper was suddenly angry, "What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded.

"I need to talk to you." He stated, eyes narrowed in mock anger at her tone.

"I have nothing to say to you. Get out." She growled.

"You don't understand, Piper. We belong together." He softened his tone, hoping to win her over, but all he did was make her angrier.

"I thought I told you to leave? Now get lost, before I have you thrown out." She pointed towards the exit.

"Fine," He gritted his teeth in anger, "But this isn't over yet."

She watched him storm out and whispered to his retreating shadow, "Yes it is, Dan. Yes, it is.