The man at the door was well-dressed, carrying a briefcase. If Buffy hadn't recognised him, she would have thought he was a case-worker from Social Services.

"What do you want?"

"May I come in? We need to talk."

Buffy shrugged, "I don't see that we have anything to talk about. I don't work for you anymore, and I don't see how you could possibly..."

The man raised his hand, cutting her off. "I know that our relationship in the past has been somewhat adversarial," he said, "but you need to hear what I have to say. It concerns certain effects we believe are a direct result of the chaos being you fought."

Buffy was glad Spike had decided to spend the night at his crypt. The last thing she needed was Travers to find out the vampire not only still lived, but spent more time at her house than she did. "You can come in, but I'm warning you, the first threat, the first thing you say I don't like, and I'll throw you out. Literally."

Travers smiled, "Yes, I imagine you will. But you needn't worry. Threats are the farthest thing from my mind right now."

Buffy stepped aside, allowing him to pass. He seated himself on the couch, as she closed the door.

"Well, I guess I should begin by saying how grateful we are for your work against..."

"Save it." Buffy retrieved a chair from the kitchen, and sat down across from him. "We did what we had to. None of the things we did were for you."

"But we still appreciate them, especially since, we understand," Travers said, removing a thick sheaf of papers from his briefcase, "your victory came at great personal cost."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Now now, we know about the vampire, Spike is it? Rupert was quite thorough in describing your relationship with this Spike, and how events played out during your battle. I would say that I am sorry for your loss, but, it seems," he said, pulling a photograph out of the pile, "reports of the creature's death were exaggerated."

Buffy sat in shock. The photo showed her sitting on her porch, leaning her head against Spike's shoulder.

"If you go near him, I swear..."

"Don't worry. We have classified him as non-hostile, at least for the time being. The Council appreciates his help as well as yours. Though, I must say, some on the Council do worry about your closeness to him."

Buffy stared at him. "It's none of your business," she said.

"I agree. Your relationship has not affected your performance in the field, in fact, from all reports this Spike assists you on your, what do you call them? Patrols, I believe is the word you use."

"But this isn't what you came to talk about, is it?" she asked, attempting to keep her temper in check.

"It is a part of it, I'm afraid."

---

As Spike awoke, he reached for the opposite side of the bed without thinking. It took a moment for him to remember he'd slept alone. The sun was still up, and it felt like the early afternoon to him. He removed a bottle from the small refrigerator by the bed, and, checking to make sure he had at least one more bottle left, gulped down the contents.

Tossing the empty bottle into the trash, he pulled on his shirt. He thought about making the trip to Buffy's house, but looked at the state of his home, and decided he should do some cleaning first.

He thought about Buffy the entire time, remembering the conversations they'd had about him moving in with her. "It doesn't make any sense," she'd told him. "You spend most of your time here anyway."

"I need my own place. And, I can't imagine you'll understand this, but it is my home. I've actually grown attached to it."

He smiled, pulling clean clothes from the bag he'd brought with him from Buffy's, and piling them haphazardly in one of the drawers in his dresser. "Well, if you're going to spend any time there, you really should get some decent furniture."

Cleaning up took less time than he'd expected. Having no more excuses not to go out, he pulled on his duster, and the hat Buffy had bought him shortly after they'd discovered the changes he'd gone through. He honestly hated how it looked, he was sure with the wide brim he looked like a complete poof, but Buffy said he looked good in it, and he wouldn't let her down by wearing something else.

Once outside, he closed the door to his crypt, and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

---

Spike heard their voices, and stood listening at the door.

"We already know all of this."

"I should have expected that. However, there is more."

The second voice was one Spike didn't recognise, though from the accent and the proper speech, he knew it had to be someone from the Watchers.

"The rate of decay seems to be increasing. We have some of our best minds working on ways to slow it, but we believe you to be the key to stopping it altogether."

Spike sighed. The sun was beginning to bother him, the overhang on the porch only partially shielding him from the sun's rays. He considered returning to his crypt, until the sound of his name pulled him back to the conversation.

"Both you and the vampire Spike will be required, we think. And most of the others involved in that battle. However, we have been unable to track down either your friend Xander, or the demon known as Anyanka. Also, Rupert is otherwise occupied at the moment, and we are having trouble tracing him as well."

Buffy laughed. "Yeah, right. Let me guess, he's off doing Council business?"

"Yes, actually. Though we do expect to hear from him shortly, his location unfortunately prohibits easy communication."

The pain was becoming unbearable, and Spike chose that moment to open the door. Both Buffy and Travers looked up as he entered.

"Ah, speak of the devil," Travers said, smiling.

Spike shrugged off his duster, hanging it on a hook next to the door. "Not me, mate. I leave that job to wankers like you and your friends."

The smile on Travers face faded. Buffy stood, walking over to Spike. "Spike, meet Quentin Travers. You missed meeting him the last time he was in town."

"Oh, right." Spike hung his hat next to his coat, and turned to Buffy, pulling her into a deep kiss. "I missed you," he said, sneaking a look over her shoulder. Travers sat with a look of pure shock on his face, and Spike grinned at Buffy.

Travers coughed, and said "It's good you're here."

Spike looked at the man, the grin still firmly plastered on his face. "I wish I could say the same of you."

---

He watched his followers with tired eyes, wishing again they could know the touch of the being that had birthed him. Since the death of his parent, he had been alone, and he missed the myriad voices that had once filled his mind. He found a part of him even missed the group he had been linked to, having been as close to them as any, but his hatred for them, and his need for revenge, overruled anything else.

His followers were efficient. They always moved with purpose, never wasting any time or energy in following his orders, but he knew how much more efficient they would have been if he could only have held onto the powers of his parent.

Their preparations were almost complete. While he'd slept, and dreamed, his followers had done all that he had asked of them. He'd known that, with the damage done by the chaos, the remaining dimensions would be unstable, and that over time the walls would weaken. He'd also known that his old enemies would do what they could to stop it. He smiled at the perfect irony. From the chaos would come ultimate order. It was just a welcome coincidence that his enemies would need to be crushed for that to happen.

Finding demons to work for him had been easy. Some had already experienced the perfection that had been his mother and father, having been touched after one of the numerous battles against the chaos. They were eager to be a part of the power and perfection again, and his promises had been more than enough to ensure their absolute loyalty. Others required more convincing. He promised them safety from the coming events, told them that he would use his power to protect them. He'd lied, of course, but the promises and small demonstrations of his power were more than enough to convince most. A few worked for him unwillingly, compelled by spells, or threats that if they did not serve him, he would give them pain and suffering, without even the possibility of death. These he assigned his most loyal followers to watch over, in case they decided to turn against him.

"I have news," a voice came from his left. He didn't bother to look toward it, as the creature that spoke had no physical body. Somehow, it had managed to survive the destruction of its body during the chaos war, and while it could see and hear, it could not affect the physical world. It acted as a spy for him, being nearly impossible to detect using even strong magics.

"Tell me," he said, moving back into his room, away from the cursed light.

"The balance has been contacted by one of the groups that led the fight against the chaos. They are quite powerful, but their vision is limited, and I believe we can use them. The others, however, are also moving to contact the balance, and of them, I was able to find out little. I believe, but am not sure, that one of them is known to you already."

"Yes. My counterpart," he chuckled mirthlessly. "Of course he would play a part in all of this. Have you been able to find anything about him?"

"Very little. He is more powerful than you told me, that much I know. He moved between the worlds easily, and was able to resist the effects of a merging between two of the dimensions. He also seems to have enough power to bolster the dimensional walls, though I do not know how far that power extends. I would guess that, as the merging continues, his strength will be taxed to its utmost."

"There is another, but..." the voice stopped.

"What?"

"I could not go near him. The power in that one is so strong, I could feel it before I even entered his dimension. It radiated out from him, and the closer I got, the more difficult it was for me to maintain... cohesion. I know only that he is powerful, and that he and your counterpart are working together."

He sat, lost in thought. He had expected many beings of power to become involved, just as he had expected the current troubles to bring the being that was his mirror image back into the game. What he had not expected was an alliance between his counterpart and the powers, at least not this early into the game.

After a moment, he spoke, "Focus on the balance and those around them. Find out as much as you can about this new group they're working with, and report back to me. Do not take any action yet, though."

"As you wish. If I might ask, why not simply destroy the balance before they become a threat? I don't see the value it letting them live."

"They are integral to my plans," he said, smiling wickedly.

"It is their power that will ensure the merging is complete."

---

The aether was disturbed, a major merging had taken place recently and the effects were already tearing at the walls of the surrounding dimensions. Already, the walls were too badly damaged to be repaired, so the being set about calming the aether, hoping to slow the spread. Already, he had spent a great deal of power to strengthen the walls that showed minor or no damage, but he feared that would not be enough if another merging took place. Every time the walls broke down and two or more of the dimensions would merge, the resulting release of energy passed into the aether, and slammed against the barriers like a tidal wave. Fortunately, the aether was slow to move, and calming it proved relatively easy. Others had been called to help in the work, and though the decay was still spreading, together they had managed to slow it somewhat. In some places, they had even managed to strengthen the walls so much that certain dimensions seemed immune to the effects of the decay. The being knew, though, that the semblance of strength, and the fact of it, were two completely different things. In time, no amount of power would be enough to stop, or even slow, the breakdown of the dimensional walls.

Noticing a crack beginning to form in one of the barriers, the being shook off the thoughts that plagued him, and again applied his healing power.

---

Notes: Took me a lot longer to finish this part than I expected. Sorry about that. I'll be choosing a title before I get the fourth part up, so get those suggestions in.