Warnings and disclaimer in Chapter 1. Enjoy!
Joyce left Ethan to Kate's care as she rushed over to the couch. "Rupert?" she asked worriedly. "Rupert?"
"Rupert?" Albert echoed as he and Veronica slowly approached. Joyce began checking him for injuries.
"He'll be fine," Ethan told them.
"What's wrong with him?" Veronica asked, glaring at the chaos mage. "What did you do?" Ethan sighed.
"I'm never going to be good enough for you people, am I?"
"Ethan!" Joyce cut in as she moved to her daughter. She began cleaning the single scratch on Buffy's cheek. He sighed again.
"He's fine," he told them, "just tired. He had a very intense vision."
"Vision?" Albert asked. "It worked?"
"As far as I can tell," he said honestly. "Though he teleported away rather quickly. And then I barely had enough time to see if Buffy was awake when that crazy vampire attacked."
"Drusilla," Xander said as he helped Ethan take off his coat and shirt so they could see the damage. He winced when several claw marks were visible on his chest. He looked to Spike. "I thought Angel was going to kill her after she attacked Buffy last time?"
"He tried," Spike said ruefully, "but he's never been that good at tracking. And, to be honest, he was never that good at fighting."
"But wasn't Angelus one of the most vicious vampires in history?" Tara asked. Spike scoffed.
"Angelus was good at mind games," he told them. "Stalking, terrorizing, driving people insane, swooping in for the kill when they were already broken. Those were his skill sets. But put him in a fair fight and he was less than worthless. I was the fighter. One of the reasons he kept me around, I think."
"That's why you don't send a vampire to do a Slayer's work," Faith said.
"Good luck finding her," Spike grinned. "She might be insane but she does have visions. And ever since I cured her, she's been more sane than not."
"She certainly was a bit more trouble than I thought she would be," Ethan said, wincing when his wounds stretched a bit.
"Drusilla?" Giles asked sleepily, slowly opening his eyes. "She was there?" Joyce quickly checked him over visually. He just as quickly waived her off.
"She's been following you," he told them.
"How do you know?" Giles asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "How long have you been following me?"
"Since you left," he admitted. He looked up appreciatively when Kate pulled out a wet washrag and began to clean the scratches. "I'm surprised you didn't notice me. I wasn't being overly cautious."
"And Drusilla?" he asked as he helped Joyce administer to Buffy. The scratch wasn't deep, but they still applied a couple of butterfly bandages to help it close.
"She caught up to us each night," he told them. "I tried to cloud her vision, lay false trails, conceal us with magic, anything I could think of to keep her away, but it was all for naught. At least she never attacked. Until tonight."
"As soon as I left," Giles murmured. They finished tending to Buffy. Joyce squeezed his knee briefly before grabbing the first aid kit and moving to Ethan.
"Did you teleport?" Ethan asked. "I didn't think you had that in you."
"How did you?" Anya suddenly asked Ethan. "We have safeguards against unfriendly teleporting inside the houses and last time I checked you were not on our approved list. How did you get past that?" He looked sheepish.
"When I created teleport points for the Voulard, I realized it was a good idea to create a system for myself, for life and death situations you know." He grinned roguishly. Joyce rolled her eyes as Kate finished cleaning the wounds on his chest. "As I was entertaining myself, I decided to create a couple of points here as well."
"Here?" Joyce demanded. "In my basement?"
"And Ripper's flat," he grinned. Giles growled.
"Take them down," he insisted.
"Fine," he relented, hissing slightly when Joyce started running antiseptic wipes over his open wounds. "Can I leave the one in the yard?"
"Ethan," Joyce complained but stopped short. "Ethan?" Everyone looked up at her voice change. Giles rushed over, ready to pummel his former friend but stopped when he saw what Joyce was looking at. Ethan quickly pulled the ends of his shirt together, but not before Giles saw.
"You?" he asked, his hand hovering over his own scar. Ethan sighed, letting his shirt fall open again.
"Me," he confirmed. Joyce methodically finished cleaning his wounds, but she couldn't stop staring at his scar. The same scar Giles had.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Giles asked.
"Because I didn't do it to earn your approval," he started, fidgeting in annoyance. "If I did, it would cheapen the entire experience." He sighed. "How many times do I have to say it? I like your girl. She has spunk. She doesn't mind a bit of chaos either. And for some reason, I find myself unable to harm her anymore."
"Thank you," Joyce said softly as she bandaged his wounds, "for saving my daughter's life." Ethan smiled, sincerely this time.
"You're welcome love." Joyce finished up, packing up the first aid kit. She looked at the chaos mage.
"You can leave the spot in the yard." He smiled. Giles sighed.
"Well," he said, sitting back down on the couch next to Buffy, "at least that explains why she's drawn to him."
"She knows?" Joyce asked, helping Ethan sit down again. Giles nodded reluctantly.
"I think she knows much more than we think she does." Buffy turned her head to stare into his eyes for a few minutes before smiling and laying her head over his heart.
"What exactly does she know?" Xander asked, handing Ethan a clean shirt.
"Where her kidney came from," Joyce answered, smiling as she looked over her family, all safe and together again.
"What exactly happened here?" Albert asked again, his Chancellor tone entering back into his voice. "Did the quest work?"
"Yes," he told them. "I was able to speak with The Slayer."
"What did she tell you about the Prophecy?" Veronica asked eagerly.
"Nothing," Giles told them. "She doesn't know anything about the Prophecy." Everyone groaned in disappointment. "She was, however, able to shed some light on what's happening now."
"With dark Willow and vampire Buffy?" Faith asked. Giles nodded. "But Willow and Buffy are right here. And they are not dark and a vampire."
"No," Giles told them, "we were to stop that. We changed that particular future."
"I won't become the big bad?" Willow asked hopefully. Giles shook his head.
"When Buffy was turned, you performed the restoration spell to save her," he explained. "But she isn't like ordinary vampires. She is a Slayer. And a Slayer has certain defenses against magical attacks."
"But restoring a soul isn't an attack," Willow protested.
"From a vampire's point of view it is," Giles said sadly. "Trying to force Buffy's soul back into her vampire body triggers her defenses and she takes yours. That is why you go dark. And that is something we can completely avoid now."
"Can we avoid my daughter being turned?" Joyce asked.
"We've already stopped it several times," he told them, "and we know the threat is credible. We know it's Drusilla that turns her. As long as we keep them apart we should be able to save Buffy."
"So vampire Buffy and the Crimson Witch," Xander started, "what happens to them? If they're Willow and Buffy from the future, but the future is changed, do they just cease to exist?"
"I have no idea," Giles admitted, looking to the other Watchers for help. They could only shrug.
"They should continue to exist," an unexpected voice spoke up.
"Andrew?" Anya asked while everyone looked around for the young man. They finally zeroed in on the baby monitor sitting on the table the witches use. Willow grabbed it, turning it until they could see Buffy's name while Joyce reached for the other baby monitor still clipped to her belt. "Are you spying on us?" Anya asked, holding her hand out for the Buffy monitor. Willow quickly handed it over.
"I just wanted to be part of the group," Andrew whined. "And with Buffy and Giles gone, it was just sitting there."
"The twins better not have been listening," Joyce snarled, grabbing the monitor from Anya's hand. "There's a reason I wanted them upstairs and not seeing any of this."
"The twins are sleeping," Andrew reassured her.
"And the other twins?" Joyce asked dangerously.
"Oh. Umm…" Andrew started. They heard him leave the room for a second before returning. "They're sleeping too," he said breathlessly.
"Andrew," Joyce said sternly. "We will talk later."
"Okay," he said hesitantly.
"What do you mean they should continue to exist?" Giles asked.
"Oh," he replied, perking up. "Our future has changed, but their past hasn't. They should continue to exist as long as they're in the past, because that definitely happened for them. They won't disappear until they go back to their present, because that will no longer happen." He paused for a second. "At least that's how it works in the books I've studied."
"Would that be comic books?" Giles asked sarcastically.
"Graphic novels," Andrew corrected. Everyone groaned.
"So the future of the world is in the hands of graphic novels," Xander surmised. "Is anybody else worried?" Giles looked to his father.
"I don't have any experience with anything like this," he told his son. "I doubt anyone in the Council does. This sounds more like a scientific problem." Everyone turned to look at Willow.
"Computers," she said, raising her hands in surrender, "not physics. Especially nothing involving temporal mechanics."
"Still, you're probably the only one here who knows what temporal mechanics even are," Xander said, smiling slightly.
"Outside my wheelhouse," Willow insisted.
"I might know someone," Ethan suggested. "A friend of a friend."
"Who?" Giles insisted.
"The principal of the soon to be rebuilt Sunnydale High."
"Principal Wood?" Joyce and Giles asked at the same time. Ethan smirked.
"How can he help?" Kate asked. "If the Council doesn't have anyone, how can a principal?"
"He's also a demon hunter," Ethan said. "I know it will seem strange to you, but not everyone who fights the forces of darkness belong to the Watchers Council. Independent groups have been sprouting up all over the world, since before the dawn of time. And lately, especially now that science has caught up and maybe surpassed magic in certain areas, some of those groups are very powerful."
"Will they help us?" Albert asked. Ethan shook his head.
"Not you," he told them. "Their relationship with the Council is very antagonistic. But Mr. Wood is not a member of the Council. They might help him."
"Can they help?" Joyce asked.
"They have resources and avenues the Council hasn't even dreamed of exploring," he told them, "plus the leftover remnants of various governments' attempts to control the forces they have never bothered to understand." Everyone looked around uncertainly. "Oh really. Do you really believe that America was the first country to try to exploit the demonic world?" Anya shook her head but the rest of them looked sick. Ethan snorted. "I am amazed at your naivety."
"Finally," Anya agreed. "Someone else who understands how the real world works." She turned to him. "I've been trying to make them see the reality of the world for a long time."
"Do you mean the Initiative?" Xander asked. "They shut that down."
"But they didn't stop," Ethan said. "True, they aren't trying to create Frankenstein's Monster any more, but they are still going out and studying demons. At least it's to protect the world from the monsters under their beds, for now anyway."
"They're still active?" Joyce asked. Granted, she didn't know a lot about the military operation that had been experimenting on the demons around Sunnydale, but she knew her daughter had dated one of the soldiers. Riley was even admitted in as one of the Scoobies before he decided to leave the group.
"Yes," Veronica answered, surprising everyone. "They've helped us a few times in Cleveland."
"Really?" Giles said. "You've never told me." She rolled her eyes.
"Because you're the role model for transparency," she told him sarcastically. Everyone laughed, breaking through the strain the night had brought. It was several minutes before they were able to settle down. "We are still setting up our base of operations in Cleveland. Every so often we need help."
"The Initiative is still very much active," Albert told the group. "They are working closely with the Council, though they are maintaining their autonomy. But Mr. Rayne is correct. Many countries have tried and failed. The remnants of their attempts have continued, sometimes floundering, sometimes flourishing, forming the foundation for some of the more long lasting hunting groups."
"I'll ask him the next time I see him," Giles said, his eyes getting a faraway look. He returned to himself and looked to Faith. "Buffy is attacking the Bronze." He didn't need to say anything else. Faith reached for Daniel's hand and they quickly teleported away. Albert took a step forward, pulling up a chair and sitting across from his son.
"She accepted the oath?" he asked, eagerness shining in his eyes. "You are not only bonded with your Slayer, but she has also accepted you as her equal?"
"Yes," Giles said tiredly. "Which reminds me." He pulled out a book and handed it to his father. He began checking his other pockets. Albert took it but paid it little attention, his focus completely on his son.
"What is it like?" the elder Giles asked with child-like curiosity. Veronica moved closer to the pair, staring at her brother in awe.
"Strange," Giles admitted, stopping the search to look at his father. "I haven't even begun to fully understand the bond and now I have these new sensations flowing through me, it's hard to differentiate what I am feeling versus what Buffy is feeling. Especially now that I am apparently tied to vampire Buffy as well."
"Really?" Albert asked. "What's that like?" Giles just shook his head and started searching his pockets again.
"No," he said guiltily, looking up at his father. "The second volume was in my pocket, but I can't find it. I must have dropped it somewhere. I am so sorry." Albert turned serious.
"We need to find that volume immediately." He turned to Ethan. "You were there, Mr. Rayne. Did you see anything?"
"No," he quickly said. They were all surprised when Buffy sat up suddenly, turning around as much as she could and staring at the chaos mage. He tried to maintain his innocent look, but finally broke. "Oh, very well. You lot never let me have any fun." He gestured towards his coat. Xander quickly pulled it up but instead of handing it over he searched it himself. Ethan sighed deeply as Xander pulled out the book and handed it over. Buffy smirked at him before snuggling deeper into Giles's side. She was asleep within minutes. The rest of the family followed her, the stressful night making everybody exhausted. Soon every chair was filled with a sleeping body.