11. Revelations II: Worst Case Scenario

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing...I don't own Willow, or Xander, or Buffy, or anyone else Joss Whedon created.

I also don't own Sara, or Gil, or Jim...or anyone else Jerry Bruckheimer created.

I'm just a lowly amature writer who likes to throw their creations into the blender of my mind and see what comes out of it.

So please...have a heart, don't sue the poor amature. :)

AN: Thanks for all the reviews, I appreciate everyone's response. I hope you enjoy this.

The Halliwell sisters arrived in a shower of light and a shimmer; the sparkle courtesy of Paige and the shimmer courtesy of Cole, who insisted on coming with the three sisters to make sure they were safe. Of course neither Paige nor Piper trusted the demon, but it was an old argument that they knew they'd never win with their sisters so they'd long ago stopped trying. Everything Cole had put them through and it seemed to have only strengthened Phoebe's resolve to make a relationship with him work.

To be fair both sisters had to give him credit for trying, but neither thought that he could deny his nature for long; once a demon always a demon.

Those thoughts however were quickly put aside as they took in their surroundings and Piper asked, "Phoebe, are you sure this is the place?"

"Yes," phoebe said, exasperated with her older sisters constant questioning. They'd been arguing about this ever since Phoebe had gotten Xander's phone call.

****FLASHBACK****

"What's going on, Xander," Phoebe asked, "why are you calling?"

She heard him sigh on the other end and he said, "We have a problem, like an end of the world problem."

"What's happened," Phoebe asked concern clear in her voice.

As she listened to Xander's outline of the situation and what was happening she couldn't help but feel anger well up at Xander and his friends, "How could you let this happen," she asked angrily.

"Not the time for accusations or questions like that," Xander said heatedly. "Are you and your sisters going to help or not?"

Phoebe took a breath and momentarily felt guilty for her outburst. It was more along the lines of something Paige or Piper would ask, not her; she should know better. She thought about apologizing but then realized it was something she should do in person. So instead she said, "We'll be there as soon as we can."

Xander thanked her and hung up. She thought about what he'd said and one thing rung clear, the Source was back and they needed to go and help. She turned towards the stairs of the manor and yelled for her sisters and her fiancé; they had a demon to vanquish

****END FLASHBACK****

Piper looked around the courtyard and said, "I don't like it."

"You said that already," Phoebe said, just able to hear Cole under his breath say "Several times."

"We can't trust them," Piper went on as If she hadn't heard her sister, "you read what Gram wrote in the Book of Shadows, and what several of our other ancestors wrote before her. The Watchers cannot be trusted."

"Piper," Phoebe said, exasperated at her sister's attitude, "that was the Council before Xander and his friends took over. Weren't you listening when he told us what they had gone through? It's like you weren't even there."

"We only have their word," Paige said, getting into the conversation, "How do we really know that they were telling us the truth?"

Phoebe sighed dejectedly and looked helplessly at Cole. Sometimes her older sister could be so stubborn. It wasn't like Gram never made mistakes yet on this one issue she was acting like Gram was incapable of being wrong. It was frustrating.

Of course she knew that the real reason was that she didn't like Willow Rosenberg. It was a feeling Phoebe could understand, after all, the red-headed witch made her uncomfortable too. That much power was too much for one person to have.

Still there was nothing they could do bar trying to bind her powers and it had been made pretty clear that any efforts to do that would probably fail as well. Willow Rosenberg was connected directly to the Earth itself; drawing power from it as if it was a battery. Willow could be cut off from that power for short periods of time but to completely sever it would result most likely in either her death, or a cataclysmic back feed of power that would take out a large chunk of whatever continent she happened to be on at the time.

Notwithstanding was the none too subtle warnings the witches had gotten from Xander at the time that any attempts to hurt his friend would not go over very well with him or the Slayers in general. Even the Charmed Ones weren't stupid enough to think they could take on a world full of Slayers and come out on top. That virtual line in the sand ultimatum had been what really put Piper's teeth on edge. She liked to think she knew what was right all the time even when she didn't.

It was an attitude Phoebe had learned to just ignore when it got to tiresome but Xander didn't have that kind of experience and so the entire meeting between him and the sisters had gone from bad to worse.

It was sad in Phoebe's opinion because listening to some of the experiences that he and his friends had gone through had shown Phoebe that she and her sisters weren't alone in their fight. She just wished Piper could see that.

Of course Paige was no help since she tended to be as narrow minded as Piper was at times. Neither one of them had the experiences with the dark side of the world and life that Phoebe did, they'd never had a real wild time as they were growing up so neither one of them saw the grey that was out there which made things worse.

Finally, Cole, seeing Phoebe's discomfort finally decided it was time to speak up, "You know Piper, I really don't understand how you can throw an opportunity like this away so carelessly."

"What opportunity," she asked, her voice cold. Although she had learned to accept Cole's presence she still never trusted him. He was half demon, and that was all there was to it in her mind.

Cole knew this and knew that even if he was right she'd still not listen but he was going to try anyways, "These people are offering to help you. They've been involved with the same struggle that you are and have been doing it since they were kids. They're on the side of light; even Leo's said so. Maybe it's time to think for yourself and stop letting your grandmother think for you."

'Ouch,' thought Phoebe, 'that's not going to go over well at all.'

She was right as her sister's face went red, "What the hell are you talking about," she demanded angrily.

Cold just ignored her anger knowing it for the bluster it was. He'd long since stopped worrying about pissing her off and getting blown up for it.

"You're basing your entire image of these people on something your grandmother wrote about the people that used to run their organization. The problem is those people are gone and Xander and his people don't work that way and you know it, Leo's said as much. You're judging these people on things they haven't done and things they aren't responsible for. Considering how much you hate being judged I never thought you were one for hypocrisy."

If possible Piper's face went even redder and Paige stepped in before things really got out of hand and said, "How do you know so much about them," she asked Cole.

"Simple," he shrugged, "I've killed a Slayer or two in my time."

He made the comment simply, his face betraying some of the sorrow he always felt when discussing his actions as Balthazar. "They're tough kids given a bum rap and treated like little more than property by the old establishment, but from what I've heard the last couple of years things really have gotten better for them."

"You think its better that they basically drafted girls all over the world to fight vampires," Piper asked amazed and horrified.

Cole shook his head, "No, but then those girls were involved in this fight long before they were all made Slayers, they just didn't know it. They were made Potentials by the Powers and nothing could change that. At least now they have a fighting chance to survive rather than wait for the next demon to decide that the best way of getting rid of the Slayers is to wipe out all the girls that might become one," he looked at Piper hard and said, "Don't you agree?"

Piper didn't get the chance to answer as the door to the hotel was opened and someone came out into the courtyard. The sisters immediately recognized it as Xander Harris and he said, "Are you guys going to come in or what?"

"Just having a little family discussion," Phoebe said, trying to be diplomatic.

"I'm sure," Xander said, dryly, having easily heard everything that had been said since the arrival of the four people in the courtyard. He wasn't in the mood for bickering right now and had decided he was going to handle any and all attitude before it started rather than wait for it to blow up in their faces.

He looked directly at Piper and said, "You don't like us, fine I get that. But what you really don't like is the old Council not the new one. I explained that once before and you basically blew me off. That's fine. But we've got a situation right now and it involves you so that's why I called. We would like your help and trust me on this one you're going to need ours. But if you can't swallow your pride, attitude or whatever else is crawled up your ass, then do us all a favor a twinkle on out of here right now and we'll take care of your mess for you."

"How dare you," Piper practically screamed. She didn't get the chance to finish as there was another twinkle of light signaling Leo's arrival.

As soon as he solidified he said, "Piper, enough."

"Leo," she asked, confused. Leo had been on her side when she'd last checked, and couldn't understand the reproving tone in his voice.

"Xander's right," he said, explaining himself in the soft tones he used when he knew his wife was really agitated. "There's a lot going on here and we're needed. But we can't accomplish what needs to happen if you're carrying around unwarranted animosity that you don't need."

He looked at Xander and nodded his head before continuing, "The Elders know all about this, and about Xander and his friends and they told me to tell you to basically, knock it off."

He looked slightly sheepish at this last part but it was verbatim what one of the Elders had told him and he figured if an Elder was talking like that then it was pretty important.

His words, tone, and message seemed to have the desired effect as Piper's shoulders slumped in defeat, "Fine," she said petulantly.

Leo nodded approvingly. Sometimes his wife forgot that as much as he loved her he was still her Whitelighter first and sometimes that meant going up against her. He just hoped he'd get a chance to explain things to her and he could make her understand. She was a caring and forgiving person by nature usually, but when it came to things that could really threaten her family she forgot who she was sometimes.

Xander and especially his friend Willow definitely fit the bill of a threat and he needed to make her understand, really understand that they were all on the same side. It was imperative if they were going to defeat The Source's plans once again.

*****

After several minutes everyone headed back inside the Hyperion to join everyone in explaining exactly what was going on.

As they explained Xander noticed that the Halliwell sisters were growing increasingly more agitated with every passing moment. In addition more than a few hostile stares were passed from them to Willow and back and Xander knew that they were going to have to do something about that before they could do anything else.

He turned to them and said, "We've got some research material in the office and some data on the prophecy, we thought you might like to look at it and help us decide what our next move should be."

The three sisters seemed to hold a silent conversation before agreeing and moving into the office where Wesley and the others were working.

As they left Xander said, "I think we might want to split up," he turned to Grissom and said, "You've got a crime scene and victims to work on. Anything you can get for us would help us a great deal."

Grissom nodded and said, "Warrick, Catherine, Greg, you're with me," the three nodded and went to grab their equipment. He turned to Sara and Nick and said, "You two process the sisters; Clothes, fibers, hair samples, everything."

They both nodded and also moved to comply. Grissom turned to Xander and said, "We're going to need a lab to process the evidence."

Xander nodded, "Not a problem. We've done a lot of business here in L.A. so we can get access to a fully functional lab so no problem. I'll make a few phone calls and get you an escort to the crime scene and they'll take you to the lab when you're ready."

Grissom nodded and moved to gather his own equipment.

After he was out of the room Xander turned to Angel and said, "They need someone with them."

Angel nodded and said, "I'll send Gunn and Kate. They'll make sure they're safe."

Xander nodded his agreement, "I'll make sure the people with them know to stay on guard."

Brass was sitting listening, still trying to recover from what he had heard and what his daughter had done and asked, "Why are you sending your people with them? Grissom's not going to like that."

Xander turned to him and said, "Because, Captain we don't know if whoever is responsible for this might decide to come back to the scene. That's what happened to Sara and me once and I'd like to be prepared in case it happens again; hence the escort."

Brass considered that for a moment then said, "I've got an old friend on the force here in L.A., and she might be willing to help us out."

Xander nodded, "We might be able to use her help. Can you trust her?"

"Without a doubt," Brass said, "We go back a long way. The problem is I'm not so sure I can trust you."

Xander considered that and said, "I think I can understand that Captain. We've been less than honest with you from the beginning, but you need to understand. The things we deal with aren't for most people. We have to try to protect them without exposing them and sometimes we don't do as well as we'd like. This is one of those times," he took a deep breath and let it out in frustration before he said, "I know you think your daughter got a bum deal, and in some ways she did. But on the other hand Ellie's got friends and people that care about her and will always be there for her. We're not the bad guys here and the sooner you realize that the sooner you're going to be able to help her."

Brass seemed to think about it for a second or two then nodded and moved off as he pulled out his cell phone, Ellie watching him the entire time.

*****

In the conference room Leo, Cole and the Halliwell sisters were being brought up to date by Wesley, Cordelia, and Fred. To say that the sisters were pissed at what they were discovering was an understatement. As soon as Xander stepped into the room Piper pinned him with her gaze.

"How long have you known about this?"

"About the Council having a list of witches so they could eliminate the ones they thought were untrustworthy; a couple of hours. About the Prophecy that involves you three," he indicated the sisters, "about the same time. That the old Council was a bunch of controlling bastards that should have been taken out a long time ago? I've known that for years."

Piper seemed shocked by the answer and Xander again took advantage to say, "Piper, I can understand your grandmother's discomfort with the Council, I really can. Before they got blown up they were a cause of some serious problems in my home town, almost got me and my friends killed a few times with their bumbling and plots. But they're gone now and we're here and were trying to make the Council into something to be proud of. I think we're doing a damn good job too, despite the setbacks we've had."

"But there's someone out there killing witches now with a list your Council made," Paige accused.

"No, a list the old Council made. If we'd known about that list we'd of destroyed it," Willow said.

"Right," Piper said, "like we could trust you."

"All right," Xander said, his temper finally snapping, "That is it."

He stalked up to the three Halliwell sisters and said, "I'm sick of your attitude. Your own husband told you to chill and yet you continue to give us this condescending attitude and I'm tired of it. Face it, you need us and we need you, so unless you're looking forward to The Source and whoever else he's working with beating us I suggest you get over it here and now because quite frankly I'm about three seconds from busting your ass."

Piper opened her mouth to retort back but Leo beat her to it, "Piper I told you enough. Now please, be quiet."

Piper looked at him shocked and said, "Why are you taking his side?"

Leo looked at her disappointedly and said, "It's not about taking his side it's about who's right and who's wrong, and even though I love you that doesn't mean I'm going to side with you when you're wrong, especially when the stakes are this high."

He looked at Xander and then back at Piper and said, "The Elders know everything they've done, Piper, all of them. And even though they're were very uncertain about her," he indicated Willow, "she's proven on more than one occasion over the years that she's got control of her power and the darkness inside of her."

"But isn't the fact she's got darkness enough to make them think that maybe she shouldn't have that much power to begin with," Paige asked.

Willow took serious offense to being talked about like she wasn't there and opened her mouth to say something but stopped at Xander's slight shake of his head. Willow knew that Xander wasn't one to let her be insulted so callously so that must mean he was seeing something that she wasn't so she decided to follow his lead, for now.

"Everyone's got darkness in them, Paige," Leo answered, "its how they deal with it that's a testament to who they are as a person. Willow slipped, she was in pain and had made a lot of bad decisions but she was trying to do better; and she was making a lot of headway."

"We've all seen what happens to people with too much power," Piper said, "they always fall eventually."

"That's right," Leo responded, "and Willow's already fallen and gotten back up again. She's the first person to have that much power and come back from it, come back from the dark to the light. She deserves recognition for that accomplishment, not your distrust, and not your criticism."

He shook his head, "I know Grams put a lot of distrust in you three about witches not born into their power but those were her prejudices, not truth. It's time for you three to grow up and let that go. Like it or not Willow, Xander, and the rest of his friends are responsible for saving the world at least as many times as you are, and they've been doing it since they were kids. At least you guys didn't get involved in it till you were adults. Don't you think it's time to started acting like it?"

Piper looked hurt by her husband's words and more than a little guilty. Xander took that as a good sign and said, "We're not here to hurt you, we really aren't, Piper. We want exactly what you want, to do the right thing whenever possible and to make sure the world keeps turning. I know we've made mistakes in the past but we're only human. I can't tell you we'll never make mistakes again, because that would be a lie. What I can tell you is that you can trust us with your lives because we'll protect them with ours."

Piper looked hard into the one-eyed gaze and saw not a bit of uncertainty. He meant exactly what he was saying and for the first time she truly realized just how much like her own husband Xander Harris was. He was a man of character and strength and a man that loved his family. In the end how could she take issue with someone like that? Slowly she nodded her head and said, "Ok, I'm sorry."

"Well it's about time," Phoebe said, drawing looks from both her sisters. She waved them off and said, "Oh please, I've thought you guys were being unreasonable for a while now. I was going to say something but Leo beat me to it."

The three sisters chuckled amongst themselves and then finally Piper met Xander's eye with her own and for the first time there was no hostility and distrust in them or her voice as she said, "So what do we need to do?"

Xander nodded his head and sent up a quick prayer of thanks to whatever god was on their side and was listening in as he said, "We need to set a trap for this son of a bitch, that's what."

*****

After a couple hours of discussion and more than a few arguments the group felt that they had a workable plan. The hardest part for the Charmed Ones was that they would be returning to San Francisco and go on a demon hunt to end all demon hunts in the area to try and stir things up in the Underworld. They needed a distraction and nothing did it like a raw demonstration of power.

Meanwhile Xander, Angel, Wesley and Dawn were going through the list they had of local targets and were trying to find one that would be the most likely next one.

Willow was busy creating a spell that would shield all the others on the list from detection by magical means. It was hoped that 'Jack's' immunity to magic wouldn't extend to this and that it would somehow shield his targets from detection save one or two, he'd go after them even if he suspected it was a trap. In this case they were counting on his pathology to do the work for them.

It was just as they were a wrapping up that they heard a commotion coming from the lobby. As everyone moved that way Xander heard a very distinct voice say, "Yo, where can I get a bed in this joint? Girl needs her beauty sleep."

Xander couldn't help but smile at the voice, Faith loved playing the act of the tough street girl. Of course having gone through her GED while in prison, and tackling enough college courses to finish her associate's and take a large chunk out of her Bachelor's did take away somewhat from the image she tried to project, but Xander didn't bother telling her that. It was kind of nice to see that once the embers of her thirst for knowledge were finally ignited that they burned with the same passion that she approached everything in her life. It made Xander feel good that she was showing everyone, including herself that she was good for something more than slaying, drinking, and sex.

Xander moved into the Lobby and moved over to Faith giving her a hug as she did the same. Nods of familiarity and handshakes were exchanged with the military group she was working with; most of them Xander had met before or remembered from their days at the Initiative.

Xander took a special pleasure in harassing Graham Miller shamelessly about his attraction to Faith. Something that he was shocked to see actually caused the woman to blush slightly. He stopped of course when Willow swatted his arm for embarrassing Faith. Something he'd never really considered possible.

Willow hugged Faith as well; they're animosity from their teen years long since evaporated and a strong bond of friendship taking its place. She smiled charmingly at Graham and gave him a brief hug before they got down to business.

Faith was naturally pissed when she got the low down on what was going on and the Watcher's ultimate responsibility for it.

Only the assurances of both Xander and Willow that Giles was taking care of the traitor himself stopped her from having Willow teleport her to England to find and take care of whoever it was that had caused so much death and pain. Even Faith knew better than to get in Ripper's way.

"So that's it," Faith asked, "we're going to sit and wait for him to attack these two families and hope we get lucky?"

"Willow has shielded the other families, Faith," Xander explained, "She was very careful to make it look like her efforts to shield them weren't quite powerful enough to cover all of the families and it left an opening for Jack to go after a couple. We know which ones those are so we know where he's going."

"Yeah," Faith said, "That's if he's dumb enough to make a move on them after what happened with these Furies." She countered. "By now he's got to know that we're on to him and that his little spell to hide what he's doing has broken."

"That really doesn't matter," Wesley said, "According to the records from the Council this individual is practically incapable of not going after a woman he thinks guilty. Witches top his list in that regard. If there's even a chance he can kill a few more, he will. In fact that's what almost cost him his life in WWII."

"And we don't think there's a chance he's learned his lesson," Faith asked amazed. She turned and looked at Xander and said, "This is weak, Xan, you got to know that."

Xander looked pissed for a moment but finally said, "I know it is, but it's all we got. The only other chance is to wait for Grissom and his team to process the latest crime scene and hope they get something that will help us trail him but I don't want to wait that long. I want this done with. Time has already cost us far too much."

Faith didn't like that. Of course she didn't like the fact that there were strangers involved in this that she didn't know but she trusted Xander and would extend that trust, however grudgingly to this "Grissom".

"So how we going to do this," Faith asked finally.

"Simple, we call in some favors from some L.A.P.D. actually in the know," he smiled as he dialed his phone.

He waited for the person he was calling to pick up and when they did he said, "Kate, you got any friends on L.A.P.D. that know what's going on and we can trust?"

He listened for a few moments and then chuckled, "Small world." He realized he'd said that out loud and then said, "Never mind. Can you give her a call and tell her we need a few guys in the know for a surveillance detail. Right usual story for those that need to know but don't know everything. Right Homeland Security detail…Right, cool. Thanks."

He chuckled darkly as his eyes went cold and he said, "This should get interesting."

He moved out to the lobby proper and said, "I hate coincidence."

"What's up," Willow asked, as she shared a nervous look with Faith. They both knew to be on their guard when Xander's personality shifted suddenly like this. It only happened when he was truly upset about something.

He turned and said, "Kate got a call from her friend on L.A.P.D., Captain Annie Kramer" he explained, "Seems Captain Kramer got a call from an old friend of hers that's come into town and needs some help. The man's name is Captain Jim Brass of Las Vegas P.D."

"You don't think that's a little too convenient," Faith asked unnecessarily. She knew he did and that's why he was pissed.

"Of course it is," Xander said angrily, "Just goes to show that these guys were screwed from the beginning. This is obviously a move by The Powers; more of their damned manipulative games." He looked up angrily at the ceiling and said, "Just once couldn't you ask people to join this fight rather than forcing it upon them?"

"Doesn't work that way, kid, and you know it," a voice said from the side.

"Whistler," Xander said, the voice sounding like a curse. He didn't even bother looking as he pulled his pistol and pointed it directly at the demon's head. Whistler tried for his part to look cooler than he felt, but he wasn't willing to bet that he could withstand some of the new supercharged ammo the kid had invented and so instead held his hands up in a placating manner, "Whoa there, I come bearing information."

Xander snarled and said, "Little late, by about a dozen innocent families."

"We can't interfere like that, you know it's against the rules," the demon said simply, "The Powers can't take direct action against the enemies plans, just as the other side can't take direct actions against The Powers all either side can do is use their agents, their Champions."

"So why not send a vision to one of the Seers," Xander asked, "They've done it before to stop something the other side has tried in order to bring Armageddon. Hell that's what a Slayer dream is all about."

"True," Whistler said, "but then as usual you're not seeing the bigger picture, and because of that you've got no idea what's going on."

"So explain it to me," Xander said his voice cold.

"The Powers," Whistler began, "have got things going that you couldn't possibly understand, have been in motion for literally eons, and They think it's time you learned to stop trying to interfere in everything that They're trying to accomplish. I'm here to tell you to stop fighting Them and start helping Them."

"Not a chance," Xander said, "I'm not going to just blindly follow orders. I need to know what's happening before I follow anyone. They want blind obedience and I will never accept that."

"Haven't you learned," Whistler said with a slight sneer suddenly coming to his features, as his entire posture and disposition changed, "that your interference only makes things worse. You stopped the prophecy of Buffy dying and that led ultimately to all the pain in Sunnydale. Everything that's ever happened is a direct result of your interfering with prophecies that were made thousands of years before you were born. And quite frankly the bosses are tired of it."

"That's not how it was," Faith said, defending her friend, "X has done a lot of good, saved a lot of people."

Whistler glared at the Slayer and said, "His mistake, and yours was assuming that his desire to save lives took precedent over the plans of The Powers. Those that are meant to die are meant to die for a reason. It is not his job or yours to question that."

He looked at Xander, "But you've done it time and again, and what's worse you have infected others with this arrogance. After you saved the Slayer from her fate she turned around, years later and saved The Key from its fate."

"Dawn would have died," Willow protested.

"As she was meant to," Whistler fired back. "Instead, the Slayer jumped in her place rendering the Key useless to the Powers; her actions a direct result of your influencing her into thinking that that which is meant to be can be fought."

He turned to Willow, "And you, who are you to decide that the way the Shadowmen had done things was unacceptable. Your actions have thrown everything into disorder, and the Powers are now being forced to take more direct action than at any other time in all of existence." Willow pulled away from the accusing tone as Whistler glared at Xander, "Once again a result of your influence."

"Well I'm so sorry they actually have to get off their asses and do something," Xander said. "So what do they want new recruits to take our places?"

"Not new," Whistler said, "Your new friend from Vegas was destined to be on our side since she was born. The other side tried to take her and arranged for her mother to be with a man that made your parents look positively angelic. Eventually her mom snapped and killed him; starting her on a downward spiral that nearly took her off the board. Thankfully she's back in the game where she belongs. Those with her are more or less useless, but they may find their use in time."

"And again I ask," Xander said, "why don't the Powers ask people to help rather than manipulate and force them into it."

"Because," Whistler said, for the first time his existence as a demon becoming clear, "the Powers aren't going to ask for assistance from that which is beneath them."

Xander was so shocked by the statement he actually dropped his gun hand down.

Whistler continued, "This little occurrence here, these dead families, these are your warning, Xander Harris. The Powers could have sent a warning to a Seer but instead They decided that They would be acceptable losses that could be used to teach you an object lesson. The Powers are tired of you interfering with Their plans, They're tired of your arrogant attitude presuming you're entitled to make your own choices, and they're really tired of you filling Their Champions' heads with the same nonsense. The Slayers, the Vamp, the Seers, all of them, belong to The Powers. They will do what The Powers command them to do or they'll be removed and replaced by someone else. The original Council understood this and served to keep the Slayers and Champions under a tight rein and it's time you understood it as well. You'll either comply or be removed, and you'll be responsible for the deaths of many more innocent people."

Xander was absolutely shocked as the pieces fell into place, "The Powers didn't just allow this," he said, his throat suddenly dry, "They started this, didn't they?"

Whistler smiled evilly, "They might have planted the seed in the mind of the Council Traitor to get the ball rolling, but he'd of done something on his own eventually anyway. This way The Powers got something for themselves as well, they removed a number of players from the game that had tried to turn their backs on their destined service to The Powers. Now this will serve as an object lesson for others in the future not to turn their back on their destiny."

"Are you even listening to yourself," Xander demanded, "You're talking about innocent people that have done nothing wrong. Treating them as if they are slaves, having a hand in their deaths, all that makes you as evil as the things we've been fighting against all this time."

Again Whistler couldn't help the sneer that appeared on his face as he said, "Your insignificant opinions of right and wrong, good and evil do not interest your betters' boy. You humans are here to fight the battles The Powers tell you to fight, not to voice your opinions. If They wanted your opinion They'd give you one."

He stood straighter and looked at Xander with unconcealed contempt, "We tried to be subtle but you are too stupid to get it, so we've had to get harsher, and this is how it is."

Willow realized something and said, "This isn't the same Whistler that Buffy knows, is it?"

He looked at her and said, "That bumbling persona served the purpose it was designed for, namely to make those I contacted feel more at ease. In this case I am not here to placate or try to convince. I am here to direct. We're fighting a war against evil, and you're interfering with that war, Xander Harris."

"You're waging a war," Xander said, "we are the ones fighting it and we're doing the best we can. If you can't offer us the help we need then maybe you should just get out of our way."

"It doesn't work that way," Whistler said, "To put it into terms you understand The Powers are the generals of this war. You are nothing but foot soldiers."

"You mean we're expendable," Willow said, disgustedly.

"That is exactly what I mean," Whistler said, "While we've been willing to allow humans to carry on with a minimum of interference that was because for the last several thousand years they have obeyed our directives and the directives of those The Powers have chosen to lead. In recent years that has changed and it is because of you," he pointed at Xander.

"What about Free Will, and all that," Faith asked.

Again Whistler snorted, "Very few humans are actually free. It's a gift, not a right. None of you are free. From the moment you joined this fight you were conscripted to The Powers command."

"Some of us didn't choose this," Faith said disgusted, "and none of the baby Slayers chose it."

"Fine," Whistler said, "then we can remove them from the game if that is your wish."

"You mean kill them," Xander said.

"Again that is exactly what I mean," the demon said, "The Powers for thousands of years chose girls to fight this war, and now you have done the same. But it is time for you to remember who is in charge of this war."

"All this time," Xander said, "All these years, we thought we were fighting for good. But that's not the truth at all. You don't care about good or evil, you just care about being in control."

"This war," Whistler said, "Is fought on The Powers' time table, not yours. It is a war that has stretched further back in time than you can imagine and will stretch far into the future the same way. A few human lives here and there are meaningless to the ultimate victory. However that doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want."

"But," Willow started but was cut off by Whistler's command, "Silence!"

He turned and looked fully at Xander, "While they appreciate you giving them more Champions with the activation of the Slayers; a thankfully useful result of the Red Witch's interference, they are tired of your interference and your influence. Your constant efforts to make the Champions believe that they always have a choice, that they can always just walk away; that they are free from the commands of destiny are no longer tolerable. So you, Xander Harris, can consider yourself on notice. You will comply or you can consider yourself out of this game. You will obey, or those you love will be punished. Do you understand?"

"You have no right to do this," Xander said, glaring at the demon.

"Haven't you been listening," the balance demon said, "They have every right; you serve them."

Xander shook his head, "No, I'm not a puppet, and neither are the Slayers or anyone else. We fight because it's right not because you tell us to."

Whistler snorted at him and said, "You were never part of this. You are an insignificant human with delusions of Championship. All you have ever done was interfere with the efforts of your betters. You should have died years ago in Sunnydale; just another useless death of another insignificant human. You've been lucky thus far but your luck has run out. You have been warned, Alexander, you will not be warned again. Complete this mission and solve your little puzzle but once completed you will need to decide whether you will accept your conscription or whether you will need to be retired. Think carefully." And with that he vanished.

Xander actually fell to his knees when the demon was gone, the words and conversation cutting him to his soul. Willow quickly was at his side as was Faith, both trying to console the man who's legendary strength of will, had suddenly left him.

*****

Nick Stokes stood at the top of the stairs just out of sight, stunned. He and Sara had finished processing the sisters and had decided to take a small break before arranging for the evidence to be taken to a local lab for processing.

For Nick the experience with the three women had been ethereal to say the least. Their attitudes, even in the face of the horrific attack they had just experienced were almost childlike. They seemed to dismiss the attack from their minds as if it had been nothing and didn't give any of the usual responses that they had both come to expect from victims of violent crime.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact of the weird that Nick had recently come into contact with, he'd of suspected that the three women were somehow mentally disabled and not able to grasp what had happened to them. However one look into their eyes, past the almost childlike innocence, he saw there he saw awareness and what was unmistakably wisdom beyond their apparent ages. The women understood exactly what had happened to them, and they had simply accepted it, and moved on from it. Something until now he'd been unable to do after his own experience.

That was until his mind had been touched by one of the sisters and all that anger, pain, and fear that he'd been bottling up simply vanished as if it had never been. He'd lived with it so long he'd almost forgotten what it was like to be without it. Then it was gone and he'd remembered and been so thankful that he'd silently agreed that even if this all didn't pan out, and he was without a job, it was still worth it, just to be free again.

For Sara, the experience had been even stranger because not only were the sisters creeping her out, with their talking in sync with one another but also that weird floating thing they'd started doing as they healed. Not to mention the fact that they were making her abilities practically sing in her head.

She didn't understand it, not a bit. Every time she thought she had a handle on exactly what she was capable of, Mother Nature, or fate, or someone with a sick sense of humor decided to throw a little extra into the mix and creep her out all over again.

First it had been dreams, and then when she got a handle on that, it was sensing Gil, and then when she got a handle on that it was full on Technicolor experiences of what victims went through.

Then when she had a modicum of a handle on that, now she was hearing people talk in her head; whispers of assurance, and encouragement and promises of support. The weirdest thing of all was that instead of sending her screaming from the room she almost felt at home. As if somehow she'd found what she was looking for…control.

Now however all those feelings she'd had just moments before had vanished as if they'd never existed. The only thing in fact keeping her on her feet was Nick's steady hand on her shoulder and comforting presence.

They hadn't meant to listen in, they really hadn't, but they'd heard the loud voices and recognized Xander's and their natural curiosity had gotten the better of them. Now neither one of them were too happy with what they had learned.

Sara couldn't believe it, her entire life, all of the pain, all of the sorrow, all the loss, all of it wasn't accidental at all, and it wasn't even her fault, or her mom's. It was the fault of beings she'd never even known existed; beings that had decided that she was a pawn in a game, to be manipulated and used as they saw fit.

She didn't know whether to collapse to her knees and cry, or storm down the stairs and beat the thing telling the people below about her life as if it were public domain.

For now she settled for just standing there in awe, allowing Nick's caring presence to fill her senses and give her some warmth in the sudden cold she felt to her very soul.

Of course even in her own pain she listened, carefully to what was being said, and realized that perhaps the only person that was taking all of this worse than she was, was Xander. In the short time she'd known the man she'd come to realize that although he tried to hide it he wore his heart, and his compassion for others on his sleeve. Not to mention he'd saved her life when that demon, and wasn't she still having just a little problem with that concept, had attacked her.

It was obvious that he cared for people, that he had sacrificed since he was just a kid to protect those he loved, and now, this person, this individual, this whatever it was that could appear and disappear at will had done everything in its power to do what life so far had failed to do, break the man down.

After this "Whistler", if she'd heard him correctly, was gone she felt an overwhelming need to go to Xander's aid. That desire probably had something to do with the Furies, she thought, but it didn't matter.

Yes, on one hand she'd heard what had been said and realized that girls all over the world had been thrust into a war they should have no knowledge of, let along part in because of him and Willow, but she also realized, from what little she'd learned of the two people that they'd of never done that if there was any other way available.

They cared too much for people to have so callously done that. So for whatever reason, even though every usual instinct would be screaming at her that he was everything she was against, this time her only thought was to try to ease his pain, or at least try to comfort the sobbing man. Something that anyone that knew her would have been amazed at to say the least.

Nick in fact was so shocked by her actions that his mouth was actually hanging open when Sara went down the stairs and went to her knees to lay a comforting hand on the sobbing man's shoulder.

Finally Nick was pulled out of his shock induced stare and slowly came down the stairs, almost feeling like an intruder on the scene but deciding that right now, he, hell, all of them needed answers. He wasn't as experienced in these supernatural things as the other people here, but even he had recognized the gravity of the situation. If the people that Xander and Willow thought were on their side weren't, then where the hell did that leave them; especially if these "Powers" were as powerful and arrogant as had been implied.

Nick didn't have an answer, and judging by the scene laid out before him he doubted that anyone here was going to have an answer for him. So Nick Stokes did what he always did when he didn't have an answer; he went and found one.

*****

Kate and Gunn dropped Grissom off at the Hyperion telling him they were headed out to get some information on recent arrivals in the city. Grissom watched them go before heading into the Hyperion after he, Catherine, Warrick, and Greg had finished processing the scene. The other three had stayed at the lab Xander had arranged them to use while they were in L.A. to oversee the processing of the evidence. Xander had told him that most supernatural evidence, barring magic could be processed like any other, it's just you wouldn't know what you were looking at unless you knew what you had to begin with. The people at the lab had some experience dealing with the supernatural and they were giving the three CSI's a crash course in supernatural 101.

It seemed unusual that Xander had a lab that could handle that kind of evidence but he let that pass for now, he'd have plenty of questions for the one-eyed agent after they caught the killer they were after.

When he entered the lobby it was almost like a ghost town. No one was around and he couldn't hear anyone moving around either. If he didn't know the kind of people that were here he'd think that the early morning, just a few hours before sunrise would mean they were all asleep.

Instead he simply assumed they were working out of the lobby, so the first place he went to was the conference room he had seen being used earlier. He stepped in and found several people working around a map and several opened books, amongst them Nick.

It surprised him to see the man amongst these people so comfortably but not overly so. As Nick noticed his presence he moved away and said, "Griss, we need to talk."

The earnestness in the man's voice worried Grissom and he moved out into the lobby with him.

"What is it Nick," Grissom asked, concerned at the look on Nick's face.

"Something happened while you were gone, something major," and with that he gave his boss all the information he had and could remember about the visit by the demon called Whistler.

Grissom listened to all of it with concern and worry clear on his face before finally asking, "Where's Sara now?"

Nick nodded towards the stairs, "After they got Xander back on his feet they took him up to one of the rooms. She told me to tell you that she's got another room up there and to come see her when you had the chance," he then handed Grissom a room key.

Grissom nodded and said, "The lab Xander got us is processing the evidence right now, hopefully we can figure out something to help. The others are there overseeing. Where's everyone else?"

"Well," Nick began, "Ellie and Brass are off somewhere talking. I think they had some air to clear. Sara's upstairs. Some people arrived after you left, some woman named 'Faith' who apparently is also one of those Slayers. Her people went out to patrol with that guy Angel. Willow is with Xander, trying to help him deal with what happened earlier and the rest of us are working on some crazy plan they've come up with to use some people as bait for the killer."

Grissom didn't like the sound of that and apparently Nick saw the look and said, "I don't like it either but as far as I can tell they don't think there's another choice. This guy's got all the advantage right now and they're getting desperate I think."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures is a bad way to plan," Grissom said, not comforted by Nick's comments.

"I know," Nick agreed.

Grissom looked at his watch and said, "I'm going up to see Sara, let me know if anything changes."

"All right," Nick said and he turned back into the conference room.

Grissom moved up the stairs and to the room Nick had directed him to. He knocked softly once before opening the door and moving into the room.

It was large, about suite size and well maintained. He didn't take a lot of time to study it however because his eyes were drawn to Sara, sitting on the bed with her knees up to her chest, looking as lost as he'd ever seen her.

He moved onto the bed without consciously moving and took her into his arms. She wrapped her own around him and let all the pain and anger that she had been hiding come out as she wept against the only man in her life that she could ever truly be herself with.

No words needed to be said as the two lovers shared the pain and tried to make it hurt just a little less.

*****

The Source moved through his underground dominion with an air of a being that knew his time had come. According to his information the demonic half-breed known as 'Jack the Ripper' was cutting a swatch through the white witch world and would soon eliminate the only thing standing between him and releasing the Old Ones from their imprisonment in the Deeper Well.

He was assured that he would receive a just reward for his efforts, which would equate to access to power beyond even his imagination.

He entered his throne room and saw that the one that had brought this opportunity about was standing there waiting for him, a smug look on the face it wore.

Again he could not help but ask, "Why is it that you wear that form, of all the countless ones you have to choose from, why that one?"

The First just smiled a cold sadistic smile and said, "It's to remind myself of what I lost. And to remind myself that sometimes even I can be too arrogant."

"Indeed," The Source said, "I could never see an occurrence in which you would enlist my lowly aid in one of your 'quests'."

"Mind your tongue," The First said, "Ultimately you are still one of my agents, not the other way around. You would do well to remember that."

The Source couldn't help the snort of disgust, "You made it very clear long ago that you had no use for me or my demons. 'Failed experiment' is what you called us I believe. It's why I've not had to deal with you or pay fealty to you for some time. I have no intention of starting now just because you need my assistance while you lick your wounds."

The First raged internally at the arrogance of The Source but reined it in quickly. The truth was that its defeat at the hand of the Slayer and her friends had weakened it considerably. It was no longer able to appear even incorporeal on the earth realm and had to settle for appearing here in the Underworld. A place it had long since dismissed as insignificant to its plans. To now have to appear and have to make a deal with The Source was a bitter pill to swallow indeed, but a pill worth swallowing none the less. If The First could not have the Earth realm then it would destroy it, and The Source had the means to do that but first they had to remove a few obstacles in the form of White Witches.

The First calmed itself and said, "How go the efforts of our young Jack?"

The Source accepted the victory in semi-good grace and was only slightly smug as he said, "My plan is working perfectly. Even now he moves on to another set of witches on his list. In another few weeks he should have eliminated enough that the Charmed Ones will have no chance to stop the opening of the Deeper Well. Then all we will need to do is wait for the right time and Hell will rule once more on Earth and I will have ultimate power."

The First grinned in appreciation for The Source's plan. Giving him the information of the Watcher's Council assassin and the lists that they kept had been a stroke of genius. Soon all that The Powers and the beings of Light they served would watch as all their efforts to protect the Creator's pathetic experiment known as mortals would collapse. This entire dimension would fall to the Darkness and soon all of creation would be The First's to rule. It was only a matter of time.

*****

"This is obviously a trap," the man in shadows said. Jack looked at him disgusted, "No trap can stop us. We will destroy the bitches as we were meant to, as we were born to."

The man just snorted, "You are far too arrogant for your own good. Surely the fight with the vampire taught you some kind of lesson. The spell to shield us has been broken. Our enemies know what we are doing. Even now we've lost the ability to track some of our targets. The ones we can track just happen to be within this city, even you cannot be so insane as to not see this for what it is."

Jack waved the man's concerns off as if they were a mere annoyance, "They under estimate us. They think they're magic can protect them. It is a fool's errand. My natural immunity will protect us, and we will continue to wipe this scum from the earth. Soon we will be able to rest."

"Stupidity," the man said in disgust, "your pathological need to kill women is going to be the death of you, or us, one of these days."

Jack's own disgust was clear as he said, "You sound like the simpering fool when you talk like that. Perhaps you should join him."

The threat was not at all cowing, in fact it seemed to irritate the man even more, "Do not make threats against me little Jack, you and I both know that you need me as much as I need you, perhaps more so. If it weren't for me taking care of the families you'd not get your chance to take care of the women, now would you?"

"I could deal with the families," Jack said in protest.

The man just laughed, "Ah yes, I've seen how you do subtle, remember, I was with you in Germany when you tried to attack that family during the battle of Berlin. Interestingly even with your resistance to magic how long were you imprisoned in the fall out from the fireball spell the witch threw at you?"

"She caught me off guard," Jack defended, "I wasn't expecting her to sacrifice herself to bring down the building on top of us."

"Which just goes to show you why need me. Just because you're immune to direct magic doesn't mean you're immune to the effects of magic. A smart magic use could easily use magic indirectly to defeat you, which is why you need me to get to them and neutralize them so you can do what you need to do and collect the witches' magic."

The man seemed to consider that for a second and then said, "And that's another thing, how do you know that we can trust the ritual we're using is what we were told."

"I can tell," Jack said, "after the Agent from the Council gave us the list the one who found us and gave us the ritual assured me it would help bring about an end to Witchcraft once and for all. It is what we have always wanted."

"Right," the man said, "and you don't think it's a little strange that someone showed up at the exact time we needed them to in order to get this ritual?"

"It was the will of God," Jack said, "I've always known I was doing his work and that was proof. We will use witchcraft to end witchcraft forever, it is just irony."

"It is blind stupidity is what it is," the man said, "Still, what do I care, in the end I'm just a figment just like you are."

"Yes, but we are the ones with power, aren't we," Jack asked.

"Indeed," the man said.

With that Jack the Ripper opened his eyes and prepared for another ritual. The man, would aid him because he had to. He would get Jack in and then Jack would do Justice once more. The time was coming when he could perform the ritual once again and this time he would not fail. He would make up for his mistake with the so called "Furies" and his success would bring him one step closer to ending the evil of witchcraft that had created him once and for all.

Meanwhile, in a deep corner of Jack's fractured mind the man that was once James Stephen fought against the cage that held him a prisoner in his own mind. Watching in horror as the anger that his one mistake with magic had given form to. An anger that used that power to shove him to the back of his own mind as it went on a rampage pulled from the deepest pit of his subconscious. He watched as it prepared to commit another atrocity all in the name of justice, and he wept at his own helplessness.

AN: I didn't expect the thing with Whistler and The Powers. Strangely enough I always have this happen, writing a story and all of a sudden it takes a turn I don't expect, I was a sleep when this came to me in a dream. I realized that the arrogance of the Oracles as shown to Angel in his series is indicitive of The Powers...and they're probably worse since they're even more powerful. I suddenly had no problem imagining them sacraficing a few humans, even several humans in order to regain control they've lost with the independence shown by the Sunnydale Crew. I'm sure some people aren't going to agree and I'll get flames, but oh well.