Dark Events re edited

by Razial

(complete)Xander and Tara fall in love when they find out about a prophecy which was created by their ancestors.

1. Default Chapter

Title: Dark Events 1/3

Author: Dave Mycock

Disclaimer: I do now own Buffy or any of the others characters in this story except for the ones I have created.

Pairing: Xander/Tara

I'd like to thank my beta Bob fro all of his help with this story

Dark Events
by Dave Mycock

Chapter 1

Xander sighed as the rain continued to pour down while they continued to patrol, Buffy, Riley and Giles were checking the east side of the cemetery whilst he, Willow and Tara checked the right. He looked at the two lesbian witches and noticed they looked just as miserable as he and just as wet. For some reason he couldn't understand, he started to laugh, causing his two friends to look at him in total confusion.

"What is so funny Xander?" he heard his long time friend Willow ask.

"I-I don't know, I just can't help it," he answered.

"Maybe he's gone mad," suggested Tara.

This made him laugh all the harder as he faced Tara who took a hesitant step back as if she was afraid he'd do something to her.

"I am not mad Tara, I just thought the look of you too soaked and miserable was funny, seeing as I am just as wet and miserable," he told her.

"O-Oh," replied Tara.

Before either one of them could speak again, three vampires jumped out of a nearby tomb, stunning the two witches. Two of them ran in the opposite direction; however, the third jumped toward Tara with his game face on. Xander suddenly felt his blood boil at the thought of Tara been hurt and jumped in front of her. The vampire knocked him to the ground and began to beat him mercilessly. Xander tried to shield himself and even managed to return a few punches, but his vision began to blur and his body weaken under the onslaught and, just as he felt himself lose himself, he saw Buffy tackle the vamp.

When he awoke, he felt a sharp pain run right through his body from head to toe. He tried to sit up, but he felt someone push he back down. He opened his eyes to find Willow and Buffy looking down at him. Willow looked concerned, while Buffy seemed ready to shout at him. He then noticed it was Giles who was holding him down. He saw he was in Giles's bedroom, which was dark, except for the night lamp on the nightstand next to the bed

"G-Giles?" he asked.

"Good, you're finally awake. Do you remember what happened?" the Watcher asked.

"I-I think we were attacked by a vamp. He went for Tara, but I managed to get in his way; after that, it's a blank," he replied rubbing his head.

"The Vampire gave you a very sound beating for getting in his way. Luckily, we were heading back your way when we saw the other two vamps running away from the scene," Giles told him.

"Where are we?" he asked the watcher.

"My house, it was closer than yours," Giles replied.

"Why did only one of them attack?" Xander asked as Willow handed him a glass of water.

"I think they were up to something, I'm not quite sure yet," Giles answered.

"Wait a second, where is Tara? Is she okay?" Xander asked as he noticed the witch missing.

"She and Willow were a little stunned by the sudden appearance of the vamps; however, Tara fainted after Buffy showed up. I think the sight of a vampire lunging at her was too much for her," Giles answered.

"I can tell you have something to add, Buff," Xander said without looking at his friend.

"Oh, I have something to say alright. Xand, just what the hell were you thinking tackling a vampire like that?" she all but screamed.

"I was trying to keep Tara out of harm's way, that's what I was thinking. What? Would you rather I stood there while it beat her up until you arrived to save the day?" he shot back with an angry scowl.

Buffy didn't respond, she just frowned and walked out of the room. He looked to Willow who just smiled at him.

"Thanks, for making sure Tara didn't get hurt; sorry I wasn't any help," she told him.

"It's okay, we were all surprised," he replied.

"I have to say Xander, although you put yourself at risk, I am quite proud of you for thinking of someone else before you own safety," Giles told him with a smile of his own.

"Thanks Giles," Xander said as pride swelled within him.

"Now that you are awake, maybe I should try and find out what the other two vampires were up to," Giles mused, more to himself than the others.

"Trouble is what they were up to," said a new voice and they all recognized it as Spike's.

"How did you get in here?" Giles asked.

"Door was open, heard what happened, so I checked out the area where you were attacked. Those two vamps took a powerful artifact from that tomb they were in; one which could bring back the Master. In fact, not just him, any powerful demon they want."

"My god! How?" Giles asked, now in full watcher mode.

"They need to combine them with one or two other things and also they need a very old magic scroll which was once protected by the most powerful sorcerer alive; his name was Robert Harris," Spike answered.

"Wait a second, did you just say Harris?" asked Willow.

"Yes, Red, I did. I think he may have been an ancestor of Droopy over there." Spike smiled.

"How do you know this?" Buffy asked as she re-entered the room.

"Been digging around the old demon libraries since I got that blasted chip in my head, and that's not all. From what I found out, maybe Tara's ancestor was involved as well as Buffy's. Seems as she is not the only slayer in her family," Spike replied as he lit up a cigarette.

"Fascinating, Spike. I will need you to gather everything you have read on this and bring it to me. I'll pay of course, seeing as that's the only way you'll get involved," Giles said.

"No problem, Giles. Be back tomorrow with the stuff. You better have the money," he agreed before he left the room.

"This is getting confusing," Xander whispered.

"Indeed," Giles said with a frown, wondering what this could all mean.

Xander had not moved for at least five hours, at Giles's insistence. He was thinking about what Spike had said. Could his family history date back to this great sorcerer who shared the same name? Could he be some great ancestor, forgotten in the mists of time? He finally got up and stretched, wincing slightly as a small tremor of pain shot through his back letting him know not all of his injuries had relented. He walked into the next room to find Giles reading one his books; Willow was asleep on the couch and Buffy was watching the TV, although she looked ready to fall asleep as well.

"Find anything Giles?" he asked quietly.

"No, I've not, except for a small sketch of the Wizard Spike mentioned. Unfortunately it is badly degraded so we cannot tell if he bares a resemblance to you," the watcher replied rubbing his eyes.

"Guess we'll have to rely on Spike then," Xander said as he sat across from the watcher.

"Yes, what a dreadful thought," he said with a dry chuckle. "Oh, Buffy has called Angel and asked him to come and help, just in case it is something big," he added.

"Just dead boy?" asked Xander.

"No, his whole team including their newest member, some girl named Fred. By the way, Xand, do you have to call him that?" Buffy said as she joined them.

"Sorry, old habits die hard." He shrugged as he answered the slayer.

"Well try, will you?" she asked.

"Whatever," he replied not really likening the idea of being nice to the ensouled vampire.

"What about this slayer Spike mentioned, the one he said was related to me?" Buffy asked.

"I've found nothing so far, and the same goes for Tara's ancestor as well. If there is a connection at all, I am thinking of phoning our old friend Quentin Travers and see if they can find out anything," Giles answered.

"Oh no, no more watchers. We may be working with them again, but I still don't trust them, Dawn maybe safe now she's staying with our father, but still, if they ever found out about her, they could do anything and you know it," Buffy butted in.

"Take it easy, will ya Buffy? I think we get the point, but we may not have a choice," Xander said with a smile.

"You stay out of this; it doesn't concern you," Buffy hissed

"But it does Buffy, and you know it. I've been involved since the beginning and now that involvement may go way deeper than we thought, so don't even think of trying to keep me in the dark," Xander interjected.

"I agree, this could be very dangerous if we keep anyone in the dark. If Spike is right and each of you had an ancestor involved, then we need you, Tara and Xander together," Giles added.

"Fine," Buffy conceded.

"Hey guys," Willow said with a yawn.

"Sorry if we woke you," Giles said.

"That's okay; I need to go back to my dorm to see if Tara is alright." Willow stretched and then headed for the door.

"I'll walk you there," Xander said as he joined her. "See you two tomorrow," he said as he exited the house.

As Willow and Xander walked toward her dorm room, Willow noticed that her friend seemed a little distracted and the look in his eyes made her worry.

"Are you okay Xander?" she decided to ask.

"Yeah, just a little annoyed at the way Buffy keeps shouting at me every time we run into trouble," Xander replied with a glance back the way they had come.

"Well, she's worried about you, that's all," she counted.

"I'd like to think so, but then I'd be believing a lie. I know you've noticed as well, Willow; ever since Riley turned up, Buffy just doesn't seem to want me involved. It's been like this ever since that Hellmouth incident," Xander said, a little of his anger toward Buffy coming out.

"I guess, but you proved us all wrong by saving us from that zombie gang all by yourself," Willow said hoping to cheer him up.

"I don't think Buffy sees it that way. It's been harder ever since Anya split with that vengeance demon. I think Buffy just sees me now as a damn liability," he hissed as they turned into the campus grounds.

"Ignore her then, because I know for a fact that you are not a liability. You've saved my life, Tara's, hell you even brought Buffy back from the dead; that proves you are no liability Xander Harris," Willow said with confidence.

"Thanks, that means a lot. Say hi to Tara for me," he said with a smile.

"Going home?" she inquired.

"Maybe I think I might just take stroll." At Willow's worried glance, he smiled and added, "Don't worry, I have a cross and a few stakes with me," to reassure her.

"See you tomorrow, Xand," she said as she entered the dorm halls.

"Yeah, tomorrow," he agreed with a dark look as he headed toward the park.

As he wandered the park, he began to feel like he was being followed. He turned and scanned the park but saw no one until a shadow suddenly walked out into the moon's light. He quickly withdrew a stake and readied himself.

"Are you Alexander Harris?" a soft voice seemed to float toward him.

"Yeah," he answered as he watched a woman dressed in a red silk dress walk closer to him, she had long black hair and piecing blue eyes "Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Rachel Wells," she answered "I was a friend of your great ancestor, Robert," she added.

"How can that be?" he asked a little taken back.

"He cast an immortality spell on me, so the prophecy he created could be fulfilled, so the demons could be stopped. I was in love with him and so I volunteered to help. I am here to help you, Tara and Buffy," she replied as she stopped right in front of him.

"Ho-how do you know their names?" he asked.

"Robert knew exactly what you would be called and when the prophecy would begin," she answered.

"How do I know you aren't some vampire trying to trick me?" he inquired.

"Because if I was, I wouldn't do this," she answered as she leaned in and kissed him softly. Xander was stunned but, as the kiss deepened, he felt no hostility from the woman. As they pulled apart, they were both breathing hard.

"If I was a vampire, that kiss would have had no truth behind it, and a kiss never lies," she said with a smile as she turned and began to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?" he shouted.

"Home. Don't worry, Alex. I'll find you no matter where you are," she replied and then she was gone, leaving him confused and stunned as he headed for home.

The next day the gang all gathered in the magic shop to meet up with Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn and Fred. Spike also turned up, covered in a blanket to make sure the sun didn't dust him. Angel had used the gem of Amara so he could move around in the day.

"Here you go mate," Spike said as he placed a bag full of books on Giles's table and then sat down as Giles handed him his money, which he placed inside his leather jacket. Angel gave him a cold glare, which he ignored.

"Now it will take some time to go through all this, but if Spike is right, then it is crucial we learn everything we can and who is attempting to utilize this spell," Giles started.

As the conversation continued, Xander just sat in his chair, thinking about Rachel and what she had told him. He had not managed to get much sleep as his dreams had been invaded by visions of death and destruction. He had even dreamt that Willow, Tara and the rest of the gang, had been killed right in front of him. The dream had shaken him badly and he couldn't help but wonder if there was some truth to it. He couldn't tell Buffy and the others, because he knew they would say only Buffy had dreams like that.

"Xander, are you listening?" he suddenly heard Giles ask.

"What? Sorry, I guess this thing has me a little off balance," he replied.

"Not surprising, if Spike is right and this Robert Harris is related to you," Giles agreed.

"So let's begin going through the books; Buffy, maybe you and Angel should return to the crypt and see if the vampires left any clues," Giles suggested.

"No problem," Buffy smiled.

"What about me, Giles? I'm not very good at research," Riley asked.

"Riley, maybe you should have a word with our resident snitch, Willy," Giles answered, knowing Riley didn't like the idea of Buffy been around her ex.

Xander suddenly got up and began heading for the door, ignoring the questions coming from his friends. Only when Buffy forcibly yanked him around did he noticed they were there.

"Where are you going Xand?" Buffy asked with a glare.

"I-I-I don't know, I just have an urge to be somewhere," he said.

"An urge?" she questioned.

"Yeah, an urge, you know, that felling where you have to be somewhere else," he said, still with a confused look on his face as he looked around. "It's like I'm been called by someone," he added.

"By who?" Giles asked as he moved toward them.

"Let him go, all of you," a new voice suddenly burst through the room. Everyone turned to see a man sitting on the counter with a smile. Buffy had seen him before, but from what Angel had said, he was dead. She noticed the shocked faces of Angel and Cordelia.

"Doyle?" Angel gasped.

"I said let him go, Buffy," the man now known as Doyle repeated.

Buffy looked at Xander again and noticed his eyes had gone a little hazy and he was turning once again toward the door, she grabbed him and then spoke to the newcomer.

"No, not till you tell us who wants him and where he's going," she said.

"Sorry Slayer, no can do," another new voice said from behind Doyle. They watched as another man came into view.

"Whistler?" Buffy asked in surprise.

"Good to see you again. Now please, let Alex go. This is important Buffy," he replied. Buffy stared at him for a minute and then released her friend who quickly opened the door and left.

"What was that all about?" Angel asked as he approached Doyle.

"For now, that doesn't concern ya, man. You need to get started on that research if you wanna beat this thing," Doyle answered him.

"How-how are you back?" This came from Cordelia, who looked close to tears.

"Let's just say the PTB like me. It's good to see you again, princess," Doyle said with a wide smile, which she returned.

"What about you, Whistler? What are you doing here?" Angel asked.

"Just here to make sure things don't get unbalanced. Doyle is here to help you, but don't think he'll be back for good. He'll be needed elsewhere. I'll see you guys later," he informed them all and then he stepped back into the shadows and vanished, leaving Doyle sitting on the counter with a smile on his face as Cordelia approached him and then threw her arms around him in a tight hug while Angel shook his hand.

"It's good to have you back, Doyle," Angel told him.

"Thanks man, it's a little lonely in the ether," he replied.

Buffy walked away from the door toward where Angel and Cordelia were speaking with their lost friend with a determined look on her face.

"So what now, Buffy?" Willow asked.

"I guess we do as we suggested before all this happened," she sighed.

"B-B-but what about X-X-Xander?" Tara finally spoke up and they all noticed the concern in her voice

"I'm sure he'll be fine. I doubt Whistler would of let him go if he was in danger," Giles said, hoping to reassure her.

"Yeah, well it's his problem for now; we have more important things to do," Buffy said. "Buffy, he's your friend; how could you think so little of him?" Willow almost screamed as she stood and approached her, Buffy just stared at her, unable to think of a response. Riley jumped in to help.

"Come on Willow, Xander will be fine. I mean he's not exactly the smartest guy in the world or the strongest. Hell, I'm surprised he's not dead by now and I bet he would be, if not for Buffy," he said.

Willow's eyes turned cold as she looked from Buffy to Riley and back again noting Buffy smile a little and nod her head she turned to Riley and kneed him hard in between his legs. Riley let a strangled cry of pain as he slumped to the ground clutching his privates. Buffy turned to scream at Willow but her friend beat her to it

"Xander wouldn't be dead if not for you, if not for him you'd still be dead when the master killed you, he proved his strength that day and he's done more than that, he's saved mine, Tara's and hell everyone's life when he took on that zombie gang on his own because we were to busy with the Hellmouth. You don't appreciate all he's done for you and us. If you ever insult him like that again, you'll both pay." As Willow finished, Buffy noticed her eyes glow red for a few minutes. She watched then as Willow turned and left the shop, followed by Tara, leaving them all shocked; except for Riley, who was still rolling around in pain.

Tara watched as her angry girlfriend continued to stalk toward their dorm muttering curses at Buffy and Riley. She could tell that what Riley had said had really angered her, but what had made her snap, was Buffy's agreement with it. Since she had gotten involved with Willow and her friends, she had learned a lot about their history, and although they had both become tight with Buffy, nothing could compare to the knot between her and Xander. She herself had come to like him very much, although she didn't talk to him often because she felt shy about him. She had noticed Buffy's increasing irritation with Xander, especially when he got into fights with Vampires and demons. She didn't understand it and for some reason she felt angry at Buffy herself and, as she realized that, she felt a shiver go down her spine.

Xander walked toward a small motel on the edge of town in a trance, he didn't even notice Oz's van pulling into the Sunnydale petrol station until Oz shouted him over. Still in a trance he walked over to his friend, he noticed Oz was now sporting a small goatee and was wearing a loose shirt and jeans.

"Hey Xand, where you going?" he wondered as Xander came to a halt in front of him.

"I'm not too sure really; where have you been?" Xander replied looking around them as if searching for something.

"I was searching for a man who was supposed to have gained control over the wolf after he was bitten, I found him and he taught me how to control mine," Oz replied as he paid the garage man for the petrol.

"So, you heading over to see Willow?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, I've got this inkling like I should be here for something," his friend replied with a frown.

"I think you'd be right. Anyway, I'll see you later; I gotta go," Xander told him as he began to walk away, leaving Oz standing alone still very confused as he got back into his van and headed for the university dorms.

Buffy walked silently next to Angel as they headed for the abandoned factory to see if anything was there. The fact that Angel was walking in the daylight was really unnerving her and the altercation with Willow was also bothering her. But the one thing she didn't like was that Xander was somehow the most important figure in this mystery and for some reason that annoyed her. She didn't know why, but ever since their senior year in school, she had just wished Xander would leave the group. Angel looked down at his former love and sighed. It was painful for him to be around her and not be able to kiss her, but he knew in the end it was for the best.

"Angel, do you think you could convince Doyle to tell you what's Xander's part in all of this?" Buffy said finally speaking.

"I could try but I doubt he would tell us; anyway, what does it matter?" Angel replied, he had always hated Xander and even now that hate was still buried in him. The guy just got on his nerves and there was the fact that he had loved Buffy and most likely still did deep down

"I don't like that he's involved so deeply in this," Buffy continued as if she hadn't heard Angel's reply

"How come?" he asked, a little annoyed that she seemed to be ignoring his presence.

"Xander has never been a good fighter; hell, he's almost been killed a dozen times and last night he was almost beaten into oblivion. I just think he would have been better if he had never found out I was the slayer," she answered him, still refusing to look at him.

"I wouldn't suggest you bring that up with Willow or Tara," Angel said, wishing she would talk about something else.

"I have the right to say it, I'm the slayer," Buffy hissed.

"True, but Willow is his friend and she cares from him a lot; although I think I'm mad for saying this, I have to agree with what Willow said before," Angel replied, not believing he was actually backing Xander up. Buffy whirled on the ensouled vampire with any angry glare.

"How can you say that, you hate Xander," Buffy seethed.

"Maybe, but even I can't say he hasn't helped you in the past, Buffy, and to do so is just stupid and childish. He has helped you fight the darkness since you came here. He brought you back to life and he faced off against Angelus at the hospital when you were sick. I would of killed you or worse turned you that night, if he hadn't been there to watch over you," Angel shot back, getting a little angry himself.

"You never told me about that before," Buffy said.

"I-I didn't want to. I thought if I told you, then you may have started seeing Xander a little differently," Angel admitted.

"Angel, let's get this straight. I could never in my life find Xander attractive, okay? I'd have to be crazy to even think it," Buffy told him angrily.

"I wouldn't say that either," Angel said.

"Who cares," Buffy snapped as she turned and once again headed for the factory. She stopped a few meters from the door and faced Angel again.

"What about Tara?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Angel asked.

"You said I shouldn't insult Xander in front of Willow or Tara; why Tara? Why would she defend Xander?" Buffy asked.

"First she is Willow's girlfriend, second Xander saved her life and third because I felt some very strong emotions coming off Tara when she asked about him," Angel explained.

"She's a lesbian, so don't even suggest that she has deeper feelings for Xander. I mean, apart from Willow, who would?" Buffy asked the vampire who just shook his head as they entered the factory, not understanding Buffy's sudden dislike of Xander.

Oz pulled his van into the campus parking lot and smiled as he noticed Willow and Tara entering the main student building, he quickly turned off the ignition and got out and locked the door and headed toward the same building, hoping his appearance wouldn't cause a disturbance like it did the last time. As he entered the building, he bumped straight into Tara, almost knocking the young witch over. She seemed very surprised by his appearance and he couldn't blame her really.

"O-o-Oz," she stammered.

"Hey Tara," he said with a small smile.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I need to speak to Willow and Buffy. You see, I've been getting this weird feeling like something big is going down," he explained knowing Tara knew about Buffy being the slayer. "And the fact that I just saw Xander acting really strange and out of it, confirmed my suspicions," he added.

As soon as Tara heard Oz mention Xander, she felt her heart rate increase for reasons she couldn't understand. Ever since she had met Xander, she had felt something about him, something she had never felt for any other guy and it seemed to be getting stronger and that scared her. She suddenly noticed Oz watching her and fought to keep herself from blushing.

"Willow is just sorting one her courses out; she should be here soon," Tara informed him.

"Great, I'll be waiting in my van just out there," he said pointing to the van outside. "Can you make sure once she's done, she sees me? It's important, I know it is," he added.

"Sure," Tara replied watching Oz as he left.

Xander headed straight for the park where he had met Rachel the night before, still having no clue has to why he was walking there. His mind was filled with troubling images and noises he couldn't understand. As he entered the park, he began to get the feeling someone was watching him. He began looking over his shoulder, but he couldn't see anyone. As he turned to continue heading into the park, someone appeared in front of him. He raised his hands in a defensive posture, not knowing where the knowledge to do such a thing came from, when he noticed the person was Rachel herself. She was smiling at him and he could tell from the look in her eyes that she had expected him to be ready for some sort of attack. He took note that she was now dressed in tight black pants and a loose strapless top and she reminded him of the clothes Buffy wore when she was training; however; as soon as the thought of Buffy came to him, he pushed it away, his anger at her still fresh in his memory.

"I see it has already started," she said as he let his arms drop to his side.

"What's started?" Xander asked a little tremor running through his voice.

"Robert's memories are beginning to surface; however, your mind cannot make sense out of them yet. I take it your mind is filled with sounds and images?" she replied.

Xander just nodded, becoming wary of Rachel knowing exactly what was happening to him and, although she had been a friend to Robert, he found it hard to believe he would have known what would happen to his descendant.

"How do you know that? I doubt even Robert would of known," he inquired.

"Robert visited a seer so he would exactly what would happen; I guess he was lucky as he knew the most powerful seer ever, Sara Rosenberg," Rachel told him.

"Ro-Rosenberg?" Xander said in surprise. "You mean," he said trying to get the words out.

"Yes, as in Willow Rosenberg's great ancestor. I know you have leaned from that vampire about yours, Buffy's and Tara's ancestors been involved but only I and the dark force you will face know the entire story and who was involved," Rachel informed him.

Xander was floored; this was getting totally out of control. First he finds out he had a great ancestor who was a wizard and that he was friends with his best friends girlfriend's ancestor and Buffy's, and now he learns that he also knew Willow's ancestor, who was a powerful seer. He began to feel a little dizzy and quickly waked over to a bench and sat down. He barely noticed Rachel sitting down as well

"I know it's a lot to take in, Alex, but everything I have said is true and you must be prepared or we are all doomed," she told him gently placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I believe you, Rachel; I'm just having a hard time dealing with all the new information," he replied giving her a warm smile which she returned.

"I'm afraid they get worse a lot worse before this fight is finished. Now we must start your training," she answered, her smile vanishing.

"Huh! What training?" he asked, a little fear creeping into his voice.

"I am going to train you in hand-to-hand combat and weapons; also, I will teach you to use you latent magical skills," she answered standing up.

"Latent skills?" he questioned.

"Well, I guess they are not really latent skills; they're the skills of Robert, which have been in a sense transferred to you by the PTB," she explained.

"Did Robert work for the Powers?" Xander suddenly asked.

"Yes, he did, and they are the ones who are giving you Robert's memories and skills," she answered.

"Now come, we have a lot to do," she said holding out her hand to him. Xander looked at her for a few minutes and then firmly took her hand and allowed her to lead him away.

Giles sighed as he read one of the books Spike had brought him. He removed his glasses and rubbed his nose and eyes. He was tired and not just from all the reading he had been doing, he was worried what all of this meant and how it would change the lives of his friends, especially his slayers. He had been troubled with Buffy's actions as of late, including her irritation with Xander, which, to him, didn't make sense. Now that irritation was causing friction with Willow and he could sense Tara had been upset as well. Then there was Riley. If it got any worse and they started fighting each other, then it was a very good bet they wouldn't survive what was to come, and that bothered him greatly. He stood and made his way to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea, careful so as not to make too much noise, as Cordelia had fallen asleep during the last hour. Wesley, Fred and Gunn had gone out to meet a source Wesley had contacted, and Riley had gone to Willy's. Doyle had gone to talk to someone he believed would be very helpful, although he wouldn't say whom that person was, and Spike had gone to get himself some blood. He quickly made himself his tea, sat back down and tried to concentrate on the book he had been reading when a noise to his left made him jump and turn around to find his old friend and nemesis, Ethan Rayne, standing in his doorway with Wesley and the others behind him.

"What is this, what is he doing here?" Giles said walking over to them.

"We found him sneaking around near your house so we thought you'd wanna talk to him," Wesley answered pushing Ethan forward into the shop

"I see. Put him over there, near the counter, and keep an eye on him. We'll wait until Buffy and Angel get back," Giles said in obvious anger at seeing Ethan again.

"Not happy to see me, Ripper?" Ethan said with a cold smile.

"No, I'm not. Now shut up," Giles said trying to keep his voice down and his anger bottled up.

"What a shame, I do have some information that could be helpful to you," Ethan shrugged, knowing he was angering Giles.

"And what would that be?" Gunn asked him stepping towards the chaos mage.

"That is between me and Rupert," Ethan shot back.

Gunn quickly moved forward and grabbed Ethan by his shirt and threw him against the counter and followed it up but grabbing a knife he carried in his jacket and placing it at Ethan's throat. "Tell us what you know now or so help me I'll make you wish you were dead," Gunn threatened him. Ethan, instead of fearing for his life, just smiled at the angry man in front of him and turned to Giles.

"Please call off your dog, Rupert," he said. This angered Gunn even more and he quickly brought his knee up into Ethan's chest winding him and then brought his foot up again and kicked him in the face knocking the mage out cold.

"Was that really necessary Gunn?" Fred asked her friend.

"Yeah," Gunn replied placing his knife back into his jacket.

"We'd better tie him up. Will you place him that chair whilst I go and find some rope," Giles said as he headed into the back of the magic shop.

"No problem," Gunn grunted. "Wes, give us a hand," he said. Wesley nodded and helped Gunn place the unconscious mage onto one of the chairs as Giles returned and tied him to the chair, making sure the rope was tight. As he looked toward where Cordelia was he was amazed to find the girl still asleep.

Buffy spun around as her slayer senses went off and she scanned the higher levels of the factory as she noticed Angel take up a defensive posture as well, as she looked around two figures quickly jumped off one of the platforms and knocked her over, she rolled with one of her attackers and same up into a crouching position to see the other attacker engaged in a fight with Angel. She stood and removed one of the stakes from her pocket and faced her own opponent, relived to find it was a vampire, although this one seemed different to most she had encountered. The vampire had a black tattoo down his left cheek which looked like a wolf and his eyes seemed to glow green. She also noticed he had metal claws attached to his hands. She backed off a bit and quickly looked over her shoulder to see Angel down on one knee with multiple cuts on his arms and chest. As she faced the vamp again, it jumped toward her and brought one its claws down in a sweeping motion. She just managed to step back into time before it cut into her chest but she wasn't fast enough to stop its other claw from cutting into her ankle. She jumped back only to be hit from behind by a third vamp. She pushed herself to her feet and moved back into a corner facing the two vamps and was soon joined by Angel, who was badly beaten.

"Any ideas?" she asked.

"We can't fight them, they're too fast. It's like they have some kind of power flowing through them," Angel replied.

Before she could answer Spike appeared behind the first Vamp Angel had been fighting and staked it and smiled as it turned to dust and then quickly jumped toward the other two. Buffy and Angel also made toward the remaining two vamps but, before they reached them, the two vamps shouted something and then vanished, leaving Buffy and the two vamps stunned.

"What the hell?" Spike shouted.

"Let's get out of here now," Buffy said.

Before either of the vamps could answer, the two vamps they had been fighting reappeared and charged them, knocking them all to the ground. Spike was the first to his feet and spun, kicking the first of the two vamps in the chest and then bringing his other knee up into its face knocking it over. Before he could follow up though, the second vamp grabbed an iron bar and slammed it into Spike's back.

"Bloody Hell," Spike gasped as he fell to the floor.

Buffy quickly got to her feet and grabbed another stake. She jumped at the first vamp as it got up and rammed her stake into its chest. But, as she did, the vamp managed to turn and bury one its claws into her lower arm. She cried out as the vamp turned to dust and fell to her knees as Angel managed to stake the third vamp while it was trying to main Spike with the iron bar.

"Come on Spike, we need to get Buffy to the magic shop now," Angel said as he helped Buffy to her feet and headed for the exit, followed by Spike who had lit up one his cigs.

Willow walked out of the classroom she had been in and walked to where Tara was standing. She noticed Tara was talking to tall brunette who was wearing a tight mini skirt and a loose shirt she had seen around the campus. As she approached the brunette noticed her and nodded in her direction Tara turned and smiled at her, just as she came to a stop next to her girlfriend she caught the brunette checking her out, her blue eyes seemed to look straight through her she fought to stop herself from blushing.

"Hey Tara," she said.

"Hey, th-this is Jill," her girlfriend replied indicating the brunette who smiled at her.

"Hi Jill, nice to meet you," Willow said with a smile.

"Same here. I've gotta get to chemistry, but I'll see you guys later," Jill replied with a smile as she turned and walked away.

"What did she mean by that?" Willow asked confused.

"Oh, I-I-I said we'd meet her at the student bar later on," Tara told her. "Oh, I almost forgot, Oz is here," she added nervously.

"Oz, where?" Willow almost demanded; her eyes wide in surprise.

"He said he'd wait out in his van," Tara said indicating the blue ford van just visible through the doors. Willow seemed anguished and excited at the same time. She slowly made her way outside, toward the van, with Tara close behind. Oz watched as Willow and Tara made their way toward him and he silently got out of the van and smiled and Willow came to a stop just a few meters away.

"Hey," he smiled uneasily; worried Willow may feel uncomfortable with his presence.

"Oz," she replied giving him a quick hug. "Why are you here?" she asked as she let go.

"I got the feeling something bad was going to happen around here and so I came. I bumped into Xander down near the patrol station and he was acting kind of weird and it seemed to confirm my suspicions," he explained to his ex-lover.

"You may be right. Something bad is coming; you better come with us to the magic shop," she told him.

"I'll give you a ride; come on, get in." He smiled at them as he opened the side door for them,

Willow smiled back and quickly got into the van; Tara followed, but stayed quiet, still remembering the last time she had met Oz.

Xander closed his eyes as Rachel had instructed and tried to concentrate on the images that were flowing through his mind. All he could see was a tall man with a beard and black hair shouting something to a woman who was in the midst of some kind of battle. The man then raised his hand and a blue light struck out toward the figures that were attacking the women. They seemed to be vampires but they were different; they had glowing green eyes and metal claws attached to their hands and some kind of tattoo. He felt a shiver run down his spine as the girl staked one of them and then was sent flying into a near by wall by a ball of orange flame. He watched as a tall shadow seemed to appear from nowhere, and just as he saw a glint of white, his eyes snapped open. He found Rachel watching him from a chair with a grim look.

"What did you see Alex?" she asked.

"A man with black hair and a beard shouting to a woman, I think she had brownish hair and she was fighting some weird kind of vampire," he replied.

"Those Vampires are the followers of an old one called Valnon," she told him.

"Old one?" Xander asked confused, although the name seemed familiar to him.

"The old ones were the creatures who used to roam the world before humans came to inhabit it. A few of them managed to hide away and not get driven through the portal that banished them from this world," she explained.

"What about the green eyes and tattoos on the vampires?" he asked.

"They are the mark all of Valnon's followers. They are different from most vampires you may have in counted, they have been blessed by Valnon with powers beyond that of the normal vampires," she answered standing up and walking to the window.

"Who was the girl? The one fighting them?" Xander asked joining her at the window.

"Her name was Jenna, she was the slayer at the time," Rachel said facing him.

"You mean she was Buffy's ancestor?" Xander asked again, still having a hard time dealing with all the information he had been given. She nodded and started at the window, contemplating the meaning of what could happen.

Giles watched with unease as Angel and Spike helped Buffy into one of the chairs. She had a deep laceration in her ankle and a cut down her shoulder, although she didn't seem to notice it. He quickly went and got the first aid box and began to tend to Buffy's injuries. As he did, the door to the magic shop opened again revealing Willow and Tara followed surprisingly by Oz. He didn't know why he was back, but he was sure it might have had something to do with what they were facing. Night seemed to fall quickly as Xander made his way toward the magic shop along with Rachel; he had managed to convince her to tell all she knew to Giles and the others, so it would help them deal with the coming threat. As they came close to the shop, three vampires jumped out of the brushes and Xander quickly noticed they each had green eyes and metal claws, once again he dropped into a defensive position as did Rachel and both pulled out a stake.

"Be careful Alex, these vamps are fast and can easily out fight us," Rachel cautioned him.

"Any suggestions?" he asked.

"Try and send a warning to Tara," Rachel shot back as the vampires closed in.

"How?" he asked stunned. "And why Tara?" he added.

"She will pick it, up believe me. As to how, just concentrate on her and ask for help," she answered as she took a few steps back. Xander followed her and closed his eyes and brought up an image of Tara, he was surprised to find it come to him so easily and he quickly sent the cry for help and their location. He didn't know if it worked as he sensed one of the vampires close in on him, his eyes snapped open and he just barley managed to side step the vamp's attack. As he turned to engage the vamp, he hoped Tara had received his cry.

Tara sat and listened as Buffy described the vampires that had attacked her and Angel and the image she created of these vamps sent a shiver down her spine. Ethan had refused to tell them anything so far, even with Angel's friend Gunn threatening him. Doyle had not returned as of yet, and she could sense that Angel and Cordelia were worried about him and she couldn't blame them. Willow herself was full of worry for Xander, who no one had seen since this morning when he seemed to be controlled by something or someone and she could also sense some concern about Oz's reappearance.

"Green eyes, a tattoo of a wolf and metal claws attached to their hands, hmmm I don't seem to recall any vampires like that," Giles mused as he stood and walked to the counter.

"So I guess this means more research, right Giles?" Cordelia said dismally.

"Of course," Giles replied absently, not noticing Cordelia's frown.

"Is there anything else you remember about these Vampires?" Wesley asked.

"They seemed faster, more powerful than any vampire before, and they could turn invisible; man that was creepy," Buffy said with a grimace.

"I've never heard of anything like that," Spike said from the stairs.

"What about you Angel?" Oz asked, speaking for first time since everyone had questioned him about his return.

"I don't recall hearing anything about Vampires like these," he answered.

"So we finally encounter something new, how lucky for us," Buffy said, full of false optimism.

Tara was about to speak when from out of nowhere she thought she heard a voice cry out for help and an image of the park, suddenly the voice became clear it was Xander's and he was in trouble. Fear began to run through her in waves at the thought of Xander dying. She quickly stood up and walked toward the door, only turning to the others when she realized what she thought of doing.

"Tara?" Willow asked confused.

"It-it's Xander he's in trouble," she told them all.

"How do you know that?" Giles asked.

"I-I'm not sure, but I heard him cry for help, we have to go and help him," she replied catching Buffy's frown.

"Do you know where he is?" Willow asked walking toward her girlfriend.

"He's at the park, there's a woman there with him," Tara answered.

"What woman?" Buffy asked standing up.

"I don't know," Tara said.

"Enough, let's go now," Giles said grabbing an axe from a cabinet in the corner.

Tara quickly opened the door and headed toward the park with half the group in tow, Gunn and Wesley had decided to stay behind and watch Ethan.

Xander hit the ground hard as the vampire he had been fighting kicked him in the gut and the elbowed him across the jaw. The pain he felt was incredible but he managed to push himself to his feet and turn to fight again; instead, he was knocked to the ground again as the third vampire hit him in the side. He rolled away with everything thing he had left and stood next to a very weakened Rachel. They were both exhausted and running on empty. Just as the vamps closed in on them, a stake was thrown into the third vamp and it quickly turned to dust. They watched as Buffy stepped into view along with Tara, Willow, Giles, Spike, Cordelia, Angel and Oz, each had a weapon and they quickly attacked the remaining vamps. Tara was sent flying against a headstone by the first vamp as she tried to stake it. But, as it turned to face Willow, Giles swung his axe carving his head clean off and watched in smug satisfaction as it turned to dust. Buffy and Angel made quick work of the last vamp and made their way other to the others. Xander helped Tara to her feet; luckily her head hadn't hit the headstone too hard.

"You okay?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah," she replied, avoiding his eyes as Willow and Oz came to her side.

"Glad you could make it, we were almost done," he said to Giles as he approached.

"Yes, you did look kind of, as you say, 'knackered'," Giles replied with a smile.

"So you wanna tell us why you walking in the park at night with some stranger waiting to get jumped?" Buffy almost yelled at him.

Xander sighed and faced the angry slayer, a little of his own anger and annoyance at Buffy began to surface again.

"Not here, no," he replied as Rachel came up to his side. Buffy glared at the woman who just ignored her.

"I think we'd better get back to the Magic Box," Angel suggested.

"Yes, I agree. Let's go," Giles said.

Buffy agreed and slowly led the rest of them back to Giles's shop. As they entered, they noticed Riley and Doyle had returned from where they had been. Riley didn't smile as he noticed Willow or Xander enter and frowned when he saw Rachel enter.

"Who's the girl?" he inquired.

"Her name," Xander said heatedly, "is Rachel," he finished, a little anger pushing through.

"So why are you hanging around with her?" Gunn asked from behind them

"Rachel was a friend of Robert Harris, my ancestor," Xander explained as he sat next to Willow. Rachel followed, ignoring the cold glares Buffy and Riley were giving her.

"But how is that possible?" Giles asked in shock.

"Robert placed an immortality spell on her," Xander answered.

"My god, I thought the immortality spell was only a myth," Wesley said.

"Robert found the spell in an old castle that once belonged to a warrior priest called Dag'amor. He hid it once he had used the spell on me," Rachel told them all.

"Why did he use it anyway? Why make sure you'd be immortal?" Giles asked.

"He wanted someone he trusted to be here to guide Xander and the others involved. Someone who would have the answers they needed, to complete the prophecy he had created to end the fight and destroy the dark one," she answered.

"Who or what is the dark one?" Tara asked fearfully.

"The dark one is called Valnon. As to what he is, he is an old one." As soon as the words left her, the faces of Angel, Spike, Giles and Wesley paled like never before.

"That's impossible!" Giles exclaimed.

"They were all killed or driven into hell," Angel added.

"No, some managed to hide away and escape the cleansing," she informed them.

"We are in the shit now," Spike muttered.

The room went deadly silent as the prospect that they faced something more powerful than ever before chilled them to the bone. Although some of them didn't know exactly what an old one was, they could guess that it wasn't something good. Buffy turned a cold eye toward where Ethan was still tied to a chair and then looked toward Giles and caught his gaze and indicated the chaos mage. Giles sighed and walked over to his former friend

"Ethan, how about telling us what you know?" he said sitting across from him.

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you Rupert. Get me to connect the dots from a to b to c. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be that helpful this time," Ethan said with a smile.

"Listen to me very carefully, you son of a bitch. You are gonna spill yours guts now, or I am personally gonna rip your throat out," Buffy shouted, her anger shooting right through her causing Ethan to cringe.

"Buffy, take it easy," Xander said from near the window. Buffy whirled on Xander, fixing him with a murderous glare.

"You shut up right now. You are not in charge here, got it? You are a weakling and an idiot who thinks he's big," Buffy hissed, forgetting Willow's and Angel's warnings. However, it wasn't Willow who sent Buffy flying into one of the walls with her magic, it was Tara. As soon as Buffy had said the word 'weakling', her anger had suddenly consumed her and she unleashed a powerful blast of energy before Willow could even think to act. Buffy slowly pushed herself to her feet and stared at Tara in amazement and shock

"Maybe you should be the one who shuts up, Buffy. You are not the only one here who is in danger. Xander risks his life just like the rest of us. Because we want to help you, we have a choice weather to fight the darkness or not. We could all leave right now, but you can't; you don't have a choice, you have to stay. So maybe you should really take a look at your friends and show them the damn respect they deserve," Tara yelled at her and then turned and stormed off through the door and into the night. Willow gave Buffy an evil glare before she stood and ran after her girlfriend with a frown, leaving everyone stunned, especially Buffy. Ethan smiled as everyone was staring at the door, still in shock at Tara's outburst.

"Well it's nice to see that some of your little group has some sense in them Rupert," he said laughing slightly. Before anyone could act, Giles turned and slammed his fist straight into Ethan's face, knocking him unconscious and busting his nose.

"This is not helping the situation," Wesley murmured.

"No, and if it continues, you will all die," Rachel added standing up and walking toward the door.

"Let's go Alex, we still have much to do," she said. Xander didn't bother looking at anyone and left with Rachel. Buffy looked at the door for a few minutes and then said, "Good riddance," with a cold glare.

"Buffy, will you please be quite and stop this bitter animosity you seem to have in you," Giles all but yelled at her causing Buffy to jump.

Willow walked into her and Tara's dorm room, still somewhat confused by Tara's outburst. She thought most of it was because of what had happened this morning, with her snapping at Buffy and Riley for making Xander sound weak and for not appreciating all his help he had given to Buffy. Yet some part of her couldn't help but think that there could be something else involved. Tara was sitting at her desk, staring at the wall. Willow easily noticed her eyes flashing red. She wondered what Tara was thinking about. She went and sat on her bed and turned on the radio on a low volume and watched Tara. Tara barely noticed Willow enter the dorm and sit on the bed, her anger was still flowing through her. She had only felt this way once before, and that was when her family had tried to force her to leave with them. However, this anger was more powerful and ran deeper within her soul. She didn't know why, and it scared her. She turned and walked over to her bed and lay down, trying to ignore Willow's intense gaze, but she couldn't. She turned and looked deep into Willow's eyes and smiled at her. Willow returned the smile and joined Tara on her bed and embraced her. Soon they both fell asleep in each other's arms. As the night wore on though, Tara's dreams were invaded by images of blood and death, and of Xander and her together in some other life, lovers in a distant time, fighting the darkness trying to keep the light shining. She saw many people die; faces she couldn't recognize and yet their deaths seem to make her feel she had lost everything. She woke screaming as she witnessed Xander's death at the hands of a creature so horrid it caused her to rush to the toilet and be sick. Willow woke a few seconds later after hearing the scream, and watched in confusion as Tara was sick and then as she returned. She noticed Tara's scared and horrified gaze and it sent a shiver through her very soul.

Riley woke feeling tired and sluggish from the near all-nighter they had pulled last night. They had tried many methods to get Ethan to talk after he had woken up from Giles's punch, but he had refused to tell them anything. Eventually, Giles had become so angry his Ripper persona had come to the fore and he had beaten Ethan badly until Angel and Spike had intervened. Although both had gotten decked by Giles, it had taken him a while to calm down and get his anger in check. Wesley had been told to clean Ethan up. Once they had, the mage had told them all he had known, which wasn't much. According to Ethan, Valnon had been recruiting certain demons and vampires to help him; his own followers had been sent out to find certain artifacts and other possible allies. A few had been sent to keep their enemies off guard. This had disturbed Angel and Spike more than the others, for, if they had still been evil, it was obvious they would have been part of his army and it was still possible that some of Valnon's followers may come to recruit them. He quickly got up, showered and dressed, and headed toward Buffy's house. He was somewhat uncertain what Buffy was thinking about since all this had begun. All he knew was that, with Angel here, anything could happen. As for this disagreement with Willow and Tara over Xander, he didn't understand it. In his view, Xander was the weakest member of the group. He couldn't fight to save his life and he was also pretty dumb in Riley's view. If not for Buffy, Riley believed Xander would be long dead and he could tell Buffy believed this, too. Yet Willow and Tara had bluntly told them that Buffy and the rest of them would have died without Xander being a part of the team. He shook his head in confusion as he knocked on Buffy's door. Why were they so protective of Xander, especially Tara? She hadn't known Xander for long, and he really couldn't understand why anyone really liked him, he was annoying, in Riley's view. Buffy opened the door and allowed her boyfriend to enter. She didn't bother to smile at him or even look at him, she was too angry at Xander, Willow, Tara and Giles, although there was a part of her that didn't know why she was mad at them, especially Xander.

"We have to get to the magic shop as soon as possible, Riley," she told him as she pulled on her leather jacket.

"Yeah, sure. I don't suppose I can convince to let me call Graham and get his team over here to help? Riley asked. From what we know, we can use all the help we can get. Hell, this is shaping up into a war."

"Not yet. Call Graham and tell him we may need his help, but don't tell him to come just yet, okay?" Buffy responded.

"Fine," he said. He pulled out his mobile phone and began to punch in Graham's number as they left the house.

Just on the outskirts of Sunnydale, a man stood watching the horizon with interest. The people moved around with no knowledge of the war that was being fought. He smiled and shook his head in wonder. 'Why was it so hard for them to see the truth?' he thought as he turned and allowed his wings to span and he took of into the sky.

Xander spun into a wheel kick. Rachel quickly ducked and swept him of his feet with a kick of her own to the back his right leg. He remained on the floor for a few minutes until he finally got to his feet and faced a grinning Rachel.

"Still not fast enough, Alex. You must learn to combine your speed and skill together and you must do it fast," she told him.

"I know, it's just not easy," he replied as he readied himself to go again.

"Stop thinking like that! You must only think about succeeding," Rachel chided him.

"Yeah, yeah." He smiled.

"Okay, now listen; as I come in to attack, I want you to try and use you magical skill to attack. I know we haven't concentrated on that part much, but just try it, okay?" she instructed him.

Xander nodded and waited as Rachel got herself into position. As he waited, a stray vision of a woman entered his head and, for a second, he thought the woman looked like Tara. Suddenly he noticed Rachel come at him with very fast kick. He jumped back and tried to focus his mind. As he did, a bright ball of light began to glow in front of him and he sent it toward Rachel. She smiled and suddenly ducked and rolled back and immediately a red ball of light formed near her and she sent it toward the ball Xander had created. When they collided, a wind seemed to sweep through the room, knocking Xander off his feet.

"Ow," he grunted as Rachel stood over him with a snide grin.

"What was that?" he asked.

"You created a ball of magic - formed it. However, mine was stronger as I have my knowledge and practice and it overwhelmed yours and, because you were the sender, the destruction of your ball was as if I hit you in the stomach," she told him as she helped him up.

"So because I created the ball and it was beaten by yours, the impact was like a blow to the face, right?" he asked.

"Close enough, yes," she nodded, happy that he was beginning to gain some understanding.

As they talked, a shadow moved slowly in the darkened corner of the room. It watched the two work together and smiled. 'If the woman could teach the boy fast enough, it was possible they may get a head start in the coming battle.' The being smiled again, knowing its own skill with magic was ten times as powerful as these two; but he couldn't intervene or help them prepare any faster, yet it wanted to. As it turned and began disappear, a stray beam of light caught the tip of its back, showing a gold-white wing; but neither Xander nor Rachel noticed as they prepared to continue their training session.

Giles yawned as the door to his shop opened revealing Buffy and Riley. Riley looked confused while Buffy seemed ready to explode. He shook his head; he still couldn't understand why Buffy was suddenly having arguments with her friends and it irritated him that he didn't understand. Angel watched from the counter and kept silent. Giles noted he was avoiding looking at Buffy. He and his team had stayed at the magic shop and took turns at keeping watch on Ethan, who was still tied to his chair, looking quite petrified every time Giles came near him. His outburst had shaken Giles badly. He had vowed never to let his 'Ripper' persona take control again, and he had failed. He wondered if a time would come when he would lose total control. A shiver ran down his spine and he moved on to different things. The door opened again and Oz entered, followed by two very disturbed-looking Witches. Tara was shaking badly and looked like she had been crying. Willow looked like she had received the worst news of her life she also looked as if she had been crying.

"Willow? Tara? What's wrong?" Cordelia asked.

"Tara had a. a dream," Willow said sinking into a chair as Tara stood near the window.

"Not-Not a dream, a vision," Tara corrected, still shaking.

"Of what?" Buffy demanded.

"Of Xander's death," Willow answered, breaking into tears again just as the door opened and Xander and Rachel came in. Xander froze as he heard Willow's answer and Rachel tensed; the whole room went deathly still.

Buffy heard the words echo in her mind as she stared at Willow, then Tara and finally Xander, who was still frozen to his spot near the door. The look on his face was totally unreadable. As for the woman next to him, Rachel she looked scared stiff at the answer. Buffy didn't like Rachel because she didn't know what Rachel's true intentions were. A part of her was afraid of the answer; she didn't want Xander to die. Yet another part of her didn't care one bit, and she didn't understand it.

"Xander?" Giles asked the young man, but Xander didn't respond and Giles couldn't blame him, not in the least. He was having a hard time accepting that Tara had had a true vision. Before he could speak again, Wesley beat him to it.

"I thought only Slayers got visions?" he said, sounding like his old self, the watcher he had been before teaming up with Angel.

"That's a load of nonsense," Doyle said. "A lot of people can have visions; especially those involved in witchcraft," he added.

"The question is, is it a reliable vision?" Angel asked. "I mean. if Xander was in danger, don't you think Cordy would have been given a vision from the Powers?" he added.

"I don't think she would, Angel," Whistler replied appearing next to Tara who didn't even flinch when she heard him.

"Why not?" Gunn asked. "Because Xander has nothing to do with the powers, neither does his ancestor nor his friends," Whistler answered.

"But Doyle got a vision when Buffy was in danger?" Angel said, off balance.

"Because the powers look out for her; she's different from most slayers. But the rest of her group has nothing to do with them. They have to do with Xander's ancestor and his fight," he replied.

"Why? What was so different about his fight than the one we fight for the powers and Buffy's?" Angel asked again.

"Well I'll answer that one when you get the kids inside and in a state ready to listen, I think they're a little too shocked right now," the demon told them smiling.

Totally forgetting the state Xander, Willow, Tara and Rachel were in, Giles, Angel and Wesley quickly began trying to them to move to the table and sit down where they could try and get their thoughts together.

Jill sat quietly at the student bar waiting for Tara and Willow to show. So far they hadn't turned up or phoned her and she was beginning to wonder where they were. She noticed two of her friends, Nikki and her girlfriend Katy, walking toward her. She smiled as they sat down. She had told them she was meeting Tara and Willow and they had wanted to meet them as well. Each of them was interested in witchcraft and they knew Willow and Tara were the best people to talk to about it. However, Jill had two other motives for wanting to get to know Willow and Tara; one, she was attracted to them both and two, because she needed to start getting them to remember their past lives. She knew Rachel was here somewhere, most likely with Robert's descendant, Xander, and she wondered how far she had gotten. Rachel had told her to stay away, but she couldn't; she was a part of this as well. Rachel was her mother and Robert had been her father and she had only revealed that she too had been made immortal, on the day Xander had been born. She sighed and hoped the two witches would show soon.

Xander stared at the wall for what must have been the tenth time and still his mind couldn't seem to come to terms with what Tara had seen in her vision: his death. He looked at the blonde witch for a few minutes and then turned away. She looked terrible, and so did Willow. Buffy seemed ready to argue something but, for now, she was keeping quiet. Rachel disturbed him the most; she seemed totally shaken by Tara's vision and he wondered if his death would have a long-lasting affect which, in the end, would cause their defeat. Giles was worried about Xander's continued silence. He could understand the boy being off balance or upset at hearing he could be dead within a few days, but he needed their attention so Whistler would continue with their information, information that might help them come up with a plan.

"Xander?" he said sitting in front of the boy.

Xander barley heard Giles speak; his mind was still too stunned to send coherent thoughts. He slowly met the stare of the older man.

"Xander, I need you to pull yourself together long enough for Whistler to tell us what he knows, okay?" he said as firm as he could, trying to get Xander to focus on the threat they faced and not his impending doom.

"I'll," Xander hesitated for a few seconds until, from somewhere deep inside, he found the reserve strength to focus. "I'll try Giles," he said nodding.

"Good. Tara? Willow? Can you try concentrate as well, please?" he said to the two distraught girls who both nodded.

"Rachel?" he asked.

"Go ahead. I'm listening," she said.

Whistler watched all this with interest. He knew a lot more than they did about the entire situation, but he couldn't tell them everything, no matter how much he wanted to. He shook his head and stepped forward as everyone turned to listen to him.

"There are many battles being fought against the darkness and not all of them are connected. Some were guided by the powers, some by the council of watchers and then there were others," he told them. "Some were people who found out about the war by accident and wanted to help, but then there were those who knew about it from a more powerful source," he added.

"What source?" Wesley asked.

"The higher power of course, but that's all I can say about it," he answered, "Robert and his lover were raised from birth to fight the darkness," he told them.

"His lover?" Xander questioned.

"Her name was Karan, she was best friends with the greatest seer known at the time, her name was Sara Rosenberg." He ignored the stunned looks and continued. "Now Rachel most likely told you, Xander, that Robert worked for the powers and in a sense he did; however, his mission against the darkness was given to him by the higher power and they were his master, not the powers, and only he, Karan and the higher ups knew that."

"Did this Karan have any descendants, I mean I am Robert's descendant, Willow is Sara's and Buffy's is Jenna's?" Xander said, missing Buffy's angry glare when he mentioned her ancestor.

"Yes, Karan had a descendant," Whistler said.

"Who is it then?" Willow demanded

"Me." Tara spoke before Whistler could reply and everyone turned to stare at her in total shock, especially Willow. The room was so quiet that no one dared move, except for the shadow in the corner where something watched.

The shadow quickly left the shop where the slayer and her friends were discussing their plans and headed toward the former Initiative caves, where three vampires waited. Each vampire had the same tattoo and green eyes and the metal claws that marked them as Valnon's followers.

"So what are they doing?" the tallest of the vampires commanded.

"They are learning about the past, they have not made any plans to fight us yet," the shadow replied.

"I would think that would be their first task," the smallest of the vampires said.

"From what we have learned from other vampires and demons that have either fought the slayer or had friends who have been killed by the slayer, she likes to get the background of the force she is fighting first," the third vampire added.

"Which gives her an edge sometimes; plus, she has the help of Angelus and William the bloody," the first said in anger.

"And the rest of her friends, who have now turned out to be decadents of our master's greatest enemy," the second added.

"What do you want me to do?" the shadow asked.

"Return and watch them closely, Fal'car," the first commanded.

"As you command," the shadow answered and then turned and left the cave, not noticing the winged being watching from above.

'I knew someone was watching them,' the being thought. 'I must warn them somehow without exposing myself,' it decided as it followed the shadow

Back at the magic shop, Willow was still reeling from the news that Tara's ancestor had been the lover of Xander's ancestor. The very notion of it made her feel sick, almost as much as the news that Xander might die. Xander noticed Buffy's glare and knowing they had better get this over with, stood and faced her and sighed as he spoke.

"You have something to say, Buffy?" he asked, bracing himself for her attack.

"You bet I have something to say. I wanna know why you didn't tell us, tell me, that you knew who our ancestors were, and their connection to all this," she seethed.

"I only found out a couple of hours ago. I was coming here to let you know the first thing when I heard was of my impending doom. I know you didn't take the news well when you were gonna die, so why should I act any differently?" he answered back trying to stay calm. As soon as he mentioned that, Buffy suddenly felt her anger boil over and stalked toward Xander with murder in her eyes, but she was intercepted by Spike and Gunn

"Calm down, slayer. We're all in this together," Spike told her.

"We need everyone here to even attempt to win," Gunn added.

"I'm afraid you're going to need more than this. I suggest you call your friend and his army team," Whistler told them. "Also, someone is going to have to bust Faith out of jail and bring her here as well," he added.

"Faith?" Willow asked hesitantly, momentarily forgetting about Tara's revelation.

"Yes, having two slayers in the fight will be very helpful," he said with a smile.

"But she's a murderer," Willow protested.

"No, she lost her way for a bit, but she's back on the right path now. She accepted that and allowed herself to be punished for her mistake. We can trust her," Angel said with confidence.

"I'll go," Xander told them.

"You'll need help and a van. I'll go with you; I know L.A anyway," Oz said with a smile.

"You better hurry and leave now. The sooner you get back, the better; but be careful," Whistler warmed them.

"No problem," Xander said as he headed for the door.

"Xander, practice what I've taught you so far, especially the mental aspects," Rachel told him.

"I will," he told her with a warm smile as he stepped outside, followed by Oz.

"Well, you gonna call your friends? Or do you want to wait and get annihilated?" Whistler asked Riley.

"Oh, sorry. I'll call them now," Riley replied pulling his cell phone from his pocket as Buffy entered the training room.

"Two of the slayer's friends have left the shop and have left town," a vampire reported to another. However, this vampire was different; he had the same green eyes and tattoo and the claws, but he also carried a big sword on his back, and on his chest was a metal plate which bore a tattoo of a demon born in the blood of a slayer.

"Send Malick and seven others to follow them. Have them attack them just as they head back to Sunnydale," the huge vampire said.

"Yes, my lord," the vampire said bowing. As he left, a shadow appeared behind the vampire.

"Send Halnar and his demon assassins as well, they must not make it back to Sunnydale. Is that understood, Rizial?"

"Yes, M'lord," Rizial responded, leaving to carrying out his orders, leaving the shadow to itself.

The van raced toward L.A as fast as possible. Neither occupant noticed the black Ford with the black-painted windows following them. Oz had taken everything that happened in the last few days well. He had sensed he was needed and he had been right, but he could tell the others weren't handling it as easily as he was. He glanced over at Xander and noticed the dark frown on his face; he guessed he was still angry from his confrontation with Buffy.

"You okay, Xander?" he asked breaking the silence.

"Not really. These last few days have been really hectic; Tara has visions of my death, plus mine and her ancestors were lovers, which didn't please Willow, I could tell. Add this increasing problem with Buffy. I don't know what it is, but it's getting worse, and finally, I have to somehow accept the memories of my dead ancestor and use his skills to learn magic and fighting skills to save the world," Xander replied staring out the window.

"Guess it can't be easy learning all this in such a sort space of time," Oz mused.

"You should count yourself lucky you don't have some ancestor involved in all of this," Xander said.

"Yeah, guess so," Oz nodded.

"So how are we gonna bust Faith out of the jail?" Xander asked.

Oz just shrugged his shoulder and Xander could tell he was still thinking about how to get the rogue slayer out of her cell. He, too, had a couple of ideas, but he didn't know if they would work and than there was the problem of how Faith would react when they made their move. He leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes and began concentrating on what Rachel had begun teaching him.

Giles noticed Ethan had finally come round from the beating he had received an hour ago from Gunn, thanks to Ethan's snide remarks. He could tell Gunn didn't have a lot of control over his temper. He noticed Ethan look around and then breathe a sigh of relief when he noticed Gunn was not in the shop. He walked over to his former friend and forced him to drink some water. He wasn't gonna take the risk of untying him. He then returned to the table to do some more research. He was having difficulty finding anything on Valnon or his followers; he could only guess at what sort of demons he had summoned to aid him in his fight. Willow had taken Tara back to their dorm room as she was still shaken by her vision and the information she had learned about her ancestor. Willow seemed confused, but her concern for Tara kept her from asking any questions. Buffy had gone into the training room just after Xander and Oz had left. She had locked the door so he guessed she wanted some privacy, which everyone respected.

"Any luck finding stuff on this demon, Giles?" Riley asked breaking his chain of thought.

"I'm afraid not. The only thing I've found was a slight reference to his rising how he commanded the biggest army of vampires and demons ever seen and that he was defeated by some great warrior and his own army. But it doesn't say anything about the warrior," Giles replied removing his glasses and rubbing his nose.

"That's not gonna help us very much," Riley said with a frown.

"No, it isn't, but we still have time to find things on him and his followers. When will your friends arrive?" Giles retorted.

"They're flying in from Mexico so it will take them at least four to five hours max," Riley replied.

"Let's hope Xander and Oz don't run into any trouble," Giles said with a worried tone.

"Trouble always happens, especially in bad situations like this; you should have learned that by now, Giles," Spike said from his place near the stairs.

"He's right Ripper, worse things always happen when you are in a bad situation," Ethan said from across the room where he was still tied to the chair.

"Can't we gag him?" Cordelia mumbled.

"Good idea; there's some rags behind the counter," Giles said glancing at Ethan and giving him a sly smile.

The vampire called Rizial walked into one of the caves which was filled with vampires who all stood up when he entered.

"I want five of you to head over to New York and try and locate the slayer's Sister and her father; if you find them, grab them both and bring them back here. Do not harm either of them; our lord wants them alive. Is that understood?" he commanded.

"Of course," said one of the vamps as he headed to the exit, followed by four other vampires.

"I also want five of you to try and track down the former vengeance demon Anyanka. Last we heard, she is with a fellow demon. Find them and bring them back as well. unharmed," he said again.

"Very well," said a rather small vampire who quickly left, followed by another four vampires.

"Why does our lord want us to find these people?" asked a very tall and very well built vampire, his long blond hair was tied back in a ponytail.

"He wants them as bait, to lure the slayer and her friends to their deaths," Rizial answered then turned and exited the cave.

Oz pulled the van into the parking area of the prison where Faith was being held; Xander quickly got out and walked over to Oz's side.

"Just wait here, I'll be back shortly," he told his friend.

"You sure you want to visit her first?" Oz questioned him.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna try something Rachel mentioned during one of my training sessions," he said with a confident grin.

"What?" Oz inquired.

"I'm gonna try and disguise myself using my magic skills. well, what skills I have so far," he explained.

"Just be careful," Oz said simply as he turned on his radio. Xander nodded and began walking toward the entrance of the jail.

As he neared the entrance, he dove behind a nearby hedge and knelt so no one could see him. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate on what Rachel had told him. Slowly he pictured the face of one his former classmates and began to add certain differences to it. He then pushed everything he had learned so far into making the image appear around his own face. He quickly felt the strain as soon as he felt a small gush of air pass over him; he knew he didn't have long before the disguise failed. He stood and entered the prison and walked toward the front desk where a very tall cop stood watching him, his eyes were a deep green but had a cold glint in them

"Hey," Xander said.

"What do you want here?" the guard asked.

"I'm here to visit a friend of mine, her name is Faith," Xander replied causally

"I see, wait here a second," the cop grunted and turned and walked toward the nearby office where two cops and a man in a suit stood talking. Xander watched as the cop began talking to the man in the suit who quickly looked toward him and then followed the cop to the front desk

"May I ask your business with this inmate?" the man in the suit asked.

"I just wanted to see how she was doing. She was close with my father, the former mayor of Sunnydale," Xander replied.

"You mean Mayor Wilkins?" the man asked.

"Of course," Xander shot back.

"Very well, this guard will show you to her cell. You have twenty minutes, Mr. Wilkins, and you only have that because the mayor left instructions in all prisons in Sunnydale and L.A that if this girl was to be arrested he would send someone to see her and I respected the mayor," the man told him sternly.

"Thank you," Xander said, the strain to hold the disguise growing as he followed the guard through the prison and to a special part of the prison where the guard opened a cell and gestured for him to enter, which he did.

"If you need anything or she tries anything, just shout, okay?" the guard said before he closed the door and then walked away.

Xander looked to where Faith sat on the bunk in the corner of the room, she still had her long black hair and piercing brown eyes, to Xander she still seemed beautiful and deadly.

"Who the heck are you?" she asked standing up and approached him.

"As hard as it may be for you to accept, it's me, Xander," he replied and he smiled at her confused look.

"I don't think so, you don't look anything like the guy," she sneered.

"Yeah, well just watch," he told her as he dropped the disguise and almost burst out laughing at her stunned look.

"Good to see you again, Faith," he said.

"What do you want, Harris?" she asked, wary.

"I'm here to bust you out, Faith," he told her plainly.

"Yeah, right. You here to play games Harris; did B send you?" she said angrily.

"I'm not playing, Faith, and, at the moment, me and Buffy and are not on the best of terms," he replied.

"So why are you doing this, if I believe you that is?" she questioned.

"We need your help. There is something very bad coming and if it succeeds, we are all dead," he told her.

"So B sent you here to get me because she can't handle it?" Faith smirked.

"No, Buffy had nothing to do with it. Now, do you want out or not?" he replied, his impenitence beginning to surface.

"Fine, I guess helping you is better than staying here for a few more years," she agreed. "One question, how are we getting out of here?" she inquired.

"Like this," he said holding out his hand toward the wall he knew faced the street and formed a large sized ball of magic. Faith quickly stood back, a little surprised as the ball struck the wall and blew a huge hall in it without causing any noise.

"Let's go now," Xander said looking back at the door. Faith nodded and quickly ran toward the hole and then jumped down onto a dustbin which was below and then waited until Xander was next to her.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Follow me. We have to get to the parking lot without you being seen," he said, grabbing her hand before she could protest and began leading her down the alley. Luckily, he noticed the alley came out right next to the parking area. He soon noticed Oz's van was moving toward them. The van quickly stopped and, just as Xander pulled open the door, they heard the alarms go off inside the prison.

"Let's go now," Oz said as Faith and Xander jumped in. Oz quickly floored it just as ten cops came running out of the prison.

"That was tense," Xander said as he looked into the rear view mirror.

"That was fun," Faith said smiling as the van headed back to Sunnydale.

Buffy spun around when she heard someone knock on the door of the training room. She had been sitting peacefully for the last few hours trying to get her thoughts together and processing everything she had learned. She had been so angry when Xander hadn't told her of her ancestor straight away, yet she understood why he hadn't, and yet still a part of her remained angry.

"Who is it?" she shouted.

"It's just me," came Giles' voice.

Buffy stood and walked to the door, slowly opening it and peering at Giles.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I just wanted to see if you needed anything to eat or drink?" he said gently and Buffy felt herself relax a bit.

"I could do with a drink if you don't mind," she said with a small smile.

"Very well, I'll be back shortly," he said returning the smile as he turned and walked toward the table where he kept his kettle. Buffy slowly closed the door but left it unlocked.

Tara watched Willow from her bed as her girlfriend sat at her desk writing something. Ever since they had gotten back, Willow had tactfully avoided speaking with her. She knew when she revealed to Willow that her ancestor had been the lover of Xander's ancestor it would cause a lot of confusion, and maybe a little pain, but she hadn't expected her to ignore her totally. She shook her head and leaned back into the pillar, trying to push the images of Xander's death away. Suddenly a flash of light seemed to blind her for a few seconds and then she saw Oz's van being struck by a blast of blue fire, she saw Xander, Oz and Faith fighting off a number of vampires and demons and then she saw Faith and Oz get knocked unconscious and Xander standing alone. She watched as a blood-soaked Xander killed the remaining vamps, but then get knocked into the van by a purple ball of magic, then a knife being stuck into his side as he got back up. She almost screamed when Xander fell again, after been struck on the back of the neck, but just managed to stifle it as Xander shot out three balls of red fire which consumed three of the demons but then in total horror she watched as Xander took the full blunt of the last demon's magic attack, sending him flying over the van and into a near by tree where he fell unconscious bleeding from many wounds. Finally, the vision ended and she couldn't stop herself screaming and crying.

Willow ran to her in an instant very worried at Tara's outburst. "What is it Tara?" she asked.

"X-Xander he, Oz and Faith are gonna be attacked on their way back. He's gonna get killed saving the others," she said barley keeping her voice steady enough to make sense.

"I gotta call Giles," Willow said rushing to the phone and dialing the magic shop. The phone rang a few times before Giles finally picked up.

"Hello," she heard Giles say.

"Giles, it's Willow," she said, trying not to rush her words.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Tara's had another vision. Xander and the others are gonna be attacked on their way back. She says he's gonna die saving the others," she told him.

"I understand," he said putting the phone down. As Willow did the same, she looked to see Tara still crying, but she seemed to be trying to do something with her skills. Willow walked over and knelt in front of her.

"What are you doing Tara?" she asked quietly.

"I know you don't wanna hear this, but I think me and Xander have a connection. That's how I knew he was in danger at the park; he contacted me. He sent me a message," she told her.

"So," Willow said, trying to keep any anger or unease out of her voice, "you're trying to send a message to him?" she managed to finish.

"Yes, I'm trying to warn him," she whispered as she began to feel an odd tingling on the back on her neck as she felt a presence inside her head, one she recognized instantly as Xander.

Xander had his eyes closed, as he was trying to forget the strain he had undergone while using his new skills to hide himself, when he began to feel something at the edge of his consciousness. Suddenly he saw an image of Tara and then he heard her whisper something to him and, by the look of her, he could tell it wasn't something good. His eyes shot open as he realized what it was she was saying. But before he could shout out a warning, the van was struck by something which would have knocked it off its wheels, had Oz not managed to swerved to the right. But another shot knocked the van right off the road.

Giles quickly walked into the training area, knowing the door would be unlocked. Buffy stood quickly when she noticed his dark gaze.

"What's wrong Giles?" she asked.

"Willow just rang. It would seem Tara has had another disturbing vision," he replied.

"About what?" she inquired a little uneasy.

"She saw Xander, Oz and Faith getting attacked on their way back from L.A and Xander dying saving the others," he said, trying to stay focused and not thinking too much on the fate of his friends.

"Does she know exactly where they will be attacked?" Buffy asked.

"Not from what Willow told me," he answered.

"Then there is nothing we can do," Buffy said with no trace of emotion.

"What?" Giles said stunned by her response.

"We can't spare anyone to go looking for them, and since we have no idea where they are or what road they took it's not worth trying," she explained.

"But Buffy, Xander is vital to this darkness we face. We cannot afford to leave him to die, or the others. We need as many people as we can to survive."

"We've survived many battles with few people, Giles. I think we can get through this as well," she said and then walked away, not noticing Giles disapproving glare.

Xander slowly came to and looked around to see it was now dark outside. Oz was just opening his eyes and Faith sitting up and looking around with a wild look in her eyes, which he remembered well.

"What happened?" Oz groaned.

"Some type of magic bolt, I think. Tara tried to send me a warning but it was too late," Xander replied as a cold shiver ran down his spine, alerting him to the presence of vampires and demons.

"Looks like they're still out there waiting for us to come out," he added.

"How do you know that? Last time we met, you didn't have any special senses?" Faith asked confused.

"Last time we met, I didn't know how to use magic either. You should be sensing them as well," Xander retorted.

"I am, and there are a few of them," she replied with a grim smile.

"So now what?" Oz asked.

"Giles knows we are in trouble, but I doubt help will be coming," Xander said.

"Why not?" Faith growled.

"Because first, they don't know where we are and, for some reason, I sense Buffy, in her present state of mind, won't bother sending anyone to our aid, thinking it to risky," he explained.

"So, it's up to us. Luckily there are a few stakes in the back, and two swords," Oz told them.

"Right. Faith, take one of the swords and two stakes. Oz, you take the other sword and the remaining stakes and stay near the van, maybe we can minimize how many attack," Xander told them.

"I take it you plan on using you magic?" Faith inquired as she passed Oz three stakes and a sword. She then reached back and took the second sword and put the remaining two stakes in her jacket pocket.

"Yeah, it might put them of balance for a bit. Let's go," he said as he kicked the broken window so they could exit the van. As soon as all three stood outside, ten vamps and five demons appeared from behind the van and moved toward them. Xander raised his hand, summoned the largest ball of magic he could, waited for the first three vamps to come closer and then he sent it straight for them. It engulfed two of them, turning them into fire balls. The third was consumed by the fire of its fellow vamps as they fell on him. Faith managed to cut the head of the vamp behind them as it jumped away from its burning comrades.

The others vampires stopped approaching and waited until the five demons came forward and began to raise their own hands, where a black fire began to grow. Xander knew what would happen and pushed Faith and Oz away and just managed to raise a defensive shield as the black fire came hurtling toward him. However, the blow sent him flying into a nearby tree and he slumped to his knees, bleeding from the back of his head. He managed to push himself to his feet and prepared to fight on as Faith and Oz came to stand beside him.

Tara awoke, sensing a pain that was not hers and she suddenly realized the pain was coming from Xander. Their connection seemed to be getting stronger and she began to worry how Willow would react when she found out. She sat up and closed her eyes and tried to focus on a memory of Xander but she found she couldn't because of the pain. She shook her head and got up when she noticed Willow sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by candles and she seemed to be in a trance. This startled her and she quickly wondered what type of spell Willow was casting. She moved closer and studied Willow's face, just as Willow's eyes snapped open to stare at her.

"You're awake," she said.

"What are, you doing?" Tara asked.

"Nothing important," Willow said, trying to deflect Tara's question as she stood up.

"How long have I been asleep?" Tara asked.

"At least half an hour why?" Willow asked stretching.

"Have Xander and the others returned yet?" Tara asked, getting a little nervous when Willow frowned.

"No, and Giles phoned and said Buffy wouldn't send anyone to help them defend themselves if you vision was right," Willow told her. Tara's eyes narrowed in anger.

"She is going to leave him to die, as well as Oz and Faith and all you can do is sit here? He is your friend," Tara said.

"I tried a locator spell just after Giles phoned and I couldn't find them. Something is using dark magic to stop us from seeing them," Willow said getting angry herself.

"I'm going to see Buffy," Tara said opening the door and walking through. Willow quickly followed her.

Xander pushed himself back to his feet, nearly falling to his knees again. The demons' magic was stronger than his, but so far, he was holding on and he had managed to kill two of the five demons with Faith's help. He had distracted the demon with a few magic bolts, allowing Faith to sneak up behind the demon and decapitate it. Oz was holding off the three remaining vampires, although they were stronger than most vamps they had encountered, and had certain abilities, like becoming invisible for a short period of time. Faith seemed to be able to see through their tricks and also managed to beat them, staying ahead of their metal claws. Oz was using his newly controlled Werewolf powers to fight off the vamps, although he had been cut a few times, especially in the chest. Faith had only been cut down one of her arms, thanks to one of the demons. Xander however, had deep cuts in one of his legs and shoulder and he was also suffering from the effects of the demons' spells. He noticed one of the demons moving in toward Oz, who was busy staking another of the vamps. He raised his hand and dug deep into his memories to find a spell Robert had used to kill demons in one strike. Rachel had mentioned it during their walk through the park. However, she had warned him, it drained Robert a lot. Finally he found the spell and began chanting fast. The demon towered over Oz who was just turning round, his eyes going wide when Faith dropped kicked it in the back. It spun around raising its clawed hand when a burst of blue and black light engulfed it. It roared in pain as it began to burn. Faith quickly raised her sword and removed the creature's head clean. She turned to see Xander back on his knees, barely conscious. She beckoned Oz to follow her and they both rushed to his side.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Not really, that spell drains the user of their energy. I may be unconscious by the end of this," he said, attempting a smile.

"Oz, you stay close to him just in case," Faith said as she turned and ran back toward the two remaining vamps. Swinging her sword in a wide arc, she decapitated both before either could react.

Oz helped Xander back to his feet as the two demons that were still alive, moved toward them. Both demons raised their hands and shot out three black spheres at them. Xander pushed Oz behind him and raised his hand, creating a weak shield which deflected two of the spheres but the third punched through, striking him in the chest. He cried out in pain as he fell to his knees and just as he lost himself to the darkness. He fired of one last spell which set the two demons alight. Faith used their pain against them taking the legs off one and then driving her sword through its heart. She ducked the blind swipe of the last demon. Jumping high, she imbedded the sword into the demon's neck; it cried out as it fell. Faith rushed over to Oz and the motionless Xander.

"Will he be okay?" she asked as Oz checked his pulse.

"Maybe, we have to get back to Sunnydale quick. Luckily the van landed back on its wheels. Come on, help me put him in the back," Oz replied, taking hold of Xander's legs. Faith grabbed his arms and they quickly put him in the back of the van. Faith climbed in as well, slamming the doors closed. Oz quickly got in the front and started the van, saying a silent prayer when it worked. He turned the van around and continued their journey back to Sunnydale.

Tara stalked into the magic shop, followed closely by a very worried Willow. She ignored Giles and the others and went straight to Buffy; the slayer seemed a little surprised by the angry look on Tara's face.

"Why didn't you send anyone to help them," Tara all but demanded.

"Because we didn't know where they were, so I didn't think it was worth the trouble," Buffy replied calmly.

"We can't survive without them. If they die, especially Xander, you have doomed us all," Tara hissed. She then turned and entered the training room, locking the door behind her.

"Why is she so upset, she doesn't know Xander that well?" Buffy asked.

"They have a connection now; her ancestors memories as well will make it stronger," Rachel answered.

"So she'll care more for him as well?" Willow asked sadly.

Rachel just nodded and sat back at the table, trying to ignore Willow's gaze as she moved to the counter.

Riley watched as the helicopter bringing his friend Graham and his team back to Sunnydale touched down in the clearing in the middle of the woods. He smiled as his friend jumped out and ran toward him.

"Hey Riley," he said shaking his hand.

"Glad you could make it, Graham," Riley replied as the rest of the team disembarked and ran over to them.

"Agent Finn, good to see you again," Major Johnson said, he had been angered that Riley had turned down his offer to join them.

"Sir," Riley replied shaking his hand. He remembered Giles's warning not to mention anything about Angel or Spike being vamps, or anything about the prophecy.

"So what's the situation?" Graham asked.

"We have faced with a large army of demons and vamps, however these vamps are different they can make themselves invisible for short periods of time, and have metal claws attached to their hands. Also, they may be led by a very powerful vamp which is called an 'old one'," Riley informed them.

"An old one? What's so different about it than normal vamps?" Johnson asked.

"I don't know much about it, sir," he answered as he led them to the magic shop. He had told them to come in normal clothing and to keep their weapons hidden and he was thankful they had listened to him.

Oz finally pulled the van over just in front of the magic shop. He quickly turned the engine of and turned to Faith.

"Just wait here a few minutes, okay?" he told her. She nodded and then he jumped out of the van and ran into the shop. Faith looked down at Xander's still form and sighed, running her hand through his hair.

"Just hang on, Xand," she whispered. The back doors suddenly opened to reveal Giles, Wesley and Angel. Angel climbed into the van and slowly, with Faith's assistance, pushed Xander toward Giles and Wesley who grabbed his legs and waited until Faith and Angel had his upper half and then they carried him into the magic shop, not noticing Jill watching from behind a tree. They placed him on the table as Rachel walked over to him and checked his pulse; she was relived to find it steady.

"He's alive," she told them.

"When will he wake up?" Faith asked, ignoring Willow's watchful glare.

"He's in a deep sleep, his wounds are very severe. His unconscious mind had placed him into this state to keep him alive. He won't wake until his injuries, both physical and magical, have healed," she answered.

"How long?" Angel asked.

"I don't know," she replied sitting down at the table and taking one of Xander's hands in hers.

The door to the training room suddenly opened and Tara quickly entered the room and noticed Xander lying on the table. She slowly approached and took his other hand and closed her eyes trying to make some kind of contact but all she could sense was darkness.

"Do you feel anything?" Willow asked.

"Nothing but darkness," Tara answered opening her eyes to look at her girlfriend.

"This is not going to help us. We can't afford to have Xander out cold for too long a period of time," Wesley said.

"I agree. Is there anything we can do to speed up his healing process?" Giles asked.

"I don't know, maybe," Rachel said facing the two former watchers. "I suggest we look through your oldest books," she suggested.

"Very well; Cordelia, Gunn, we could use your help." Giles nodded. Cordelia and Gunn both groaned but walked to the bookshelf anyway.

The shadow watched in interest and almost smiled. The fact that the there had returned was not good news. But the fact that one of them was out cold and the fact that it was an important member of the group, made it even better. It turned and exited the shop as Riley as his friends entered. It headed toward the caves, knowing its master would be pleased to hear this news. It didn't notice the winged being following it at a distance.

Faith noticed Buffy and Willow watching her very move and it was really beginning to annoy her. She remembered what Xander had told her, that they weren't getting on too well, and now she could tell why. Buffy was being irrational and annoying. Faith wondered why Buffy was being this way; she had always been the good slayer and now Buffy was acting like her. She couldn't blame Willow too much. Watching her, it was obvious that the young redheaded witch still didn't trust her. Guess she would have to work on that. She wondered who the woman was who refused to leave Xander's side. She walked towards Angel and his group.

"Hey Faith," Angel greeted her.

"What's the story?" she asked.

"So far we only have bits and pieces, but here's what we know far." he then proceeded to tell her all they knew. When he had finished, Faith knew why they all looked grim and on edge. She was pretty unnerved by the arrival of Riley's commando friends who were busy being filled in by Giles and Wesley.

The winged being knew it couldn't afford to allow the shadow to return to its master and tell it about the sorcerer's condition. It knew it might face serious consequences when it returned home, but it had to take action. Just as the shadow turned into the woods, the being raised its hand and shot forth a bolt of green energy knocking the shadow flying into a tree. The being landed and pulled a small sword from it's back and approached the shadow as it got up and turned to face him.

"You can't interfere." the shadow raged.

"You interfered first. You broke the pact and now you must pay," the being shot back and, before the shadow could even move, the being brought it's sword down and split the shadow in two. He shook his head and replaced his sword. As it turned to leave, a voice came out of nowhere.

"Urial," the voice whispered.

The being was surprised to hear the voice call his name, then it smiled and turned and headed back to the sky, knowing why he was been called.

Tara closed her eyes and tried to find some semblance of sleep but as soon as her eyes were closed tight enough, an image of Xander and her kissing entered her head, then one of him lying in her arms as he died, followed. Her eyes snapped open and she rushed outside, not hearing Willow calling her name. She leaned against a nearby tree and tried to concentrate on her breathing. She looked up to see Jill approaching her with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you okay Tara?" Jill asked.

"I don't know," Tara answered, glancing back at the magic shop where Xander still lay unconscious.

"Do you want to get a coffee or something?" Jill asked placing her hand on Tara's arm. Tara nodded and allowed Jill to lead her to the nearby coffee shop, again not noticing Willow watching her from the door with a small frown tugging at her face.

Xander seemed to be floating in his mind, surrounded by nothing but darkness except for a small light just ahead of him that seemed to be urging him to it, but he couldn't move. All he felt was intense pain. He also could hear whispers all around him but he couldn't seem to concentrate long enough to hear them properly.

Tara looked at Jill's concerned gaze as she sat back down with two hot coffees. She was still trying to clear her mind of the mental image of her kissing Xander and then having him die in her arms. She noticed Jill studying her and she quickly looked away and down toward the magic shop. She wondered what the others were doing, especially her girlfriend.

"What's happened, Tara?" Jill asked, breaking her train of thought.

"N-nothing," she answered, her stutter returning.

Jill continued to study her carefully and wondered how much she had remembered. Had Rachel shown up yet? And had she begun teaching them? As she watched, Tara's eyes closed and her head fell onto her arms. Jill sat and watched, unable to decide what to do.

Tara suddenly saw a flash of images of people she didn't recognize and events she didn't understand. Then the images began to slow and she started to sense a familiar presence. As she watched, a tall man with a short beard and long hair appeared, along with a woman who looked very much like her except the color of her hair was black. They seemed to be talking very heatedly about something. A flash of silver caught her eye and she turned to find a girl watching this from behind a pillar. Tara stared harder at the girl. She was shocked to find the girl was a much younger Jill. The shock seem to shake the images into a faster pace until she found herself watching the man perform some sort of spell on the younger version of Jill and then proceed to tell her something important. Jill nodded and then walked away. The last image she saw was Rachel crying as the man told her something. Her eyes snapped open and she stared at Jill, who suddenly seemed nervous and kept glancing away.

"Who are you Jill?" she asked.

Jill was a little surprised by Tara's question and she suddenly realized Tara was somehow having visions. She wondered why Willow wasn't the one who was having them, as it was her ancestor who was the seer. Something was wrong or something had changed, she couldn't tell which.

"Who are you? What is your link to all this?" Tara asked her again, this time more forcefully.

"It's hard to explain, Tara, but you must believe I am on your side," Jill finally answered, believing now was the time she entered this fight.

"You have to tell me; I need to know," Tara said grabbing her hand.

"Okay, I had the same spell put on me as Rachel did: an immorality spell. I was born during the beginning of this prophecy you are now involved in," she told Tara. "My mother is Rachel Wells, the woman who is now helping you. My father needed someone with the knowledge of the entire fight and prophecy so they could help their descendants when the time was fight. My mother accepted the responsibility because she loved my father," she added.

"Why did he do the same to you then?" Tara asked.

"I forced him to. I begged him to let me help as well and so, in the end, he agreed, just in case something happened to Rachel. He knew nothing was certain and so he gave me the same knowledge as he gave my mother. He then sent me to somewhere safe where I remained until the day of Xander's birth. I revealed myself to my mother who had not known about me. She was upset by what my father had done and she told me to stay out of this, but I refused. I was going to help you and Willow with your magic, but things didn't go as planned, as you've been too busy with finding out about all this," Jill answered.

"Who is your father? That's the only thing I don't know," Tara asked after a few minutes.

"That's a little hard to explain as well, my father was Robert Harris," Jill answered

"How is that possible?" Tara asked in complete shock "I thought he was in love with my ancestor Karan?" she asked again.

"Robert met Rachel before Karan, he knew one day he would meet someone else and he told my mother this. She accepted this but still they got very close and I was the result. I was only three years old when Karan and Robert first met and Rachel didn't make a fuss of trying to keep him, but she stayed anyway, to help them fight," Jill answered, her voice unsteady as she tried to control her emotions.

"Did Karan know Robert was your father?" Tara asked in sympathy.

"Yes, she knew all about it. In fact, Willow's ancestor, Sara, told her. Rachel was surprised Karan didn't hold any grievances. She and I even became friends. She was like my aunt in a way," Jill replied.

Tara nodded and finally stood. "I need you to come with me and tell the others. This is important, Jill, and you may be able to help us revive Xander," she told her.

"Xander's in some sort of trouble?" Jill asked, concerned.

"I'm afraid so," Tara nodded.

Jill allowed Tara to lead her to the magic shop. Although she wasn't looking forward to an argument with her mother, she knew she had to help them now. Everything rested on it, including Xander's survival.

Xander's mind suddenly began to become alert and the light just in front of him became bigger. The whispers became stronger and he recognized one as Rachel's and the other as Faith's. A few stray images passed him, including one of a shadow standing over a sleeping Buffy. It seemed to be casting some sort of spell. He heard Buffy moan and her eyes snapped open and flashed red and then closed again as the shadow smiled and told her something. His mind reeled as it struggled to wake his body.